Twin World: The Gold Night
by sitara85
Summary: AU. They were legends in their own world and prophesied warriors in another. Follow the Potter twins as they make their way in a brand new world.
1. Intro to a Whole New World

Hey everyone,

I am Sitara85 and this is my first fanfic that I am posting. I will be posting the first chapters of one or two other fanfics over the next few days. If you guys love or hate this fic I would love to get reviews from you. I will probably choose which fic I continue posting chapters to by how many people review for each of them. It starts out slow but it will pick up with some action in coming chapters. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and the characters you don't recognize from Madame Rowling amazing literary works.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was drinking tea and making a note to himself to pick up more lemon drops the next time he was in Muggle London when his deputy headmistress suddenly rushed into his office. 

"Minerva, dear, what has you in such a hurry this morning?"

"Albus, you'll never believe what happened this morning. I was walking down by the lake when all of a sudden two children appeared as if they had APPARATED and collapsed in front of me. They did not respond when I spoke to them or shook them, so I took them to Poppy. She shoed me out as soon as I went in with them and I immediately came here to tell you. But, Albus that is not the end of it. The young boy looked almost exactly like James Potter, only he has scars that James does not have." The normally prim and proper head of Gryffindor quickly informed him, obviously quite flustered.

"That is quite intriguing dear. Since you say one child looks so much like James he may be a relative. We will contact the Potters' and then go down to the infirmary to wait for them to wake up. I do believe the only answers we will get will be from these mystery children themselves," Albus said, as he got up and headed to the fireplace.

He took some powder from the pot on the mantel, threw it in the fireplace, kneeled down and stuck his head in the flames as they turned green.

"Potter Estate, Den Room, password: Ravens abide by Ale," he yelled into the flames.

Suddenly his head was spinning and he was quite glad his glasses had a spell included which repelled ash. When his head stopped spinning and the informal den room of the Potter residence came into focus, he called for Lin, one of the Potters' house-elves.

"Good morning, Master Dumbledore, what can I do for you today?" Lin asked as he bowed.

Albus marveled again at how well the Potters' had taught their elves the old ways, which allow elves to wear clothes and learn to read and write. The Potter elves were always immaculately dressed and took pride in knowing how to speak properly. But most of all, they were happy elves.

"If you could summon Harold, Diana, and James for me, please Lin, I would greatly appreciate it," he answered the cheerful creature.

"Certainly, right away sir and it is my pleasure."

"Thank you, Lin."

"You are welcome, sir," the little elf replied as he popped away.

A few seconds later the Potters' were coming into the den, each with a different degree of curiosity expressed on their faces, varying by age and temperament.

"Good day, Albus," Harold said. "We were not expecting you and from the look on your face this is not a pleasure visit. What can we do for you?"

Albus smiled somewhat distractedly and responded, "No, I am afraid it is not a social visit. Something came up at the school. If the three of you could come through the fire, there is something we need to discuss."

"Of course, right away Albus," Harold answered.

* * *

After Albus's head disappeared from the fire, both Harold and Diana turned to look at their son. 

"What," James said, rather indignantly, "I did not do anything. No use to in the summer when I would not be able to see the results."

The two looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing that their son was telling the truth, _this time_.

Diana shrugged and said, "Well, then we should go see what this is about."

She took some floo powder, threw it in the fire, called out the address and password for Dumbledore's office, with her husband and son quickly following her.

Once they were seated in Dumbledore's office with Albus in his chair; Harold, Diana, and James on the couch; and Minerva, fidgeting, in the remaining chair, James spoke up:

"I am not in trouble, am I?" James asked, rather nervously, after seeing that his head of house was also there.

"No, no dear boy," Albus chuckled, "Minerva found two children on the school grounds this morning while she was walking. When they did not respond to voice or touch she took them to Poppy, who has thankfully not left for vacation yet. What puzzles us is that one of the children looks quite a bit like James and we wondered if you would be interested in staying and finding out who they are when they wake up?"

"Albus, you know we do not have any other relatives, you are not thinking that are you?" Harold questioned.

"No, and the castle is actually very happy to have these children here. In fact, this is the most active the castle has ever been in my experience, which tells me that these children are no threat. I just thought there might be something to the resemblance, and you might be curious."

"I am," James interjected, "if he looks like me like you say, I would like to know who he is. Say we will stay Dad, please?"

"Alright, we will stay," Harold replied.

The group got up and headed down to the infirmary. As they neared the doors the nurse, Poppy Pomfrey, came out.

"Oh good, Albus, the girl is waking up. Before you go in I need to speak with you about them. The rest of you might as well stay.

"They are suffering from magical exhaustion, the boy more so than the girl so it will be at least a day before he wakes up. They are both true Elves and twins, so they have a strong bond between them. The dimension jumpers, forced jump, mark is on their necks. Albus," Poppy hesitated, "they also have older scars consistent with severe abuse. It looks as if they were removed from that situation around the age of eight, but they may still be more wary of adults, so James may get more answers out of them than we will."

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" James replied, being quite serious for once.

"If she does not answer me then just ask her if she is hurt or if she feels sick, standard follow up questions, you are quite familiar with them," Poppy quirked her eyebrow at him and he blushed.

"How old are they?" James asked, as he was about to open the door.

"As far as I can tell they are around 14 or 15," Poppy answered and walked through the doors into the infirmary.

* * *

When the group walked in they noticed the girl was fully awake, sitting up, and watching them with a look mixed of curiosity and wariness. Her eyes lingered on James, somehow surprised and, yet, not surprised to him. 

James seated himself in the chair between her and her brother's bed as Poppy bustled around casting diagnostic charms. He was intrigued to see that the girl ignored Poppy the way Remus did, as if she was used to the hospital matron.

She had deep auburn hair, he noticed, darker than Lily's, the only other girl he had seen with such deep red hair. It was as if this girl's hair were black underneath and dark red on top but every hair looked to be the same color individually. She was tanned with a vaguely Middle Eastern look about her. Dusky, rose red lips and thin eyebrows accentuated her dark sapphire-emerald eyes. A lightning bolt scar ran over her left eye and another jagged scar ran from her right temple to the right edge of her lips. Her eyes were sparkling, with laughter, he realized, as he blushed at the fact he had been caught looking and smiled back at her.

"You probably want to know who we are," she sighed as she glanced from the adults back to him.

"Yes," he answered, deciding that being straightforward would be best. He was rewarded to see her smile at him again, and he felt the strange urge to protect her and her brother, as an older brother would with younger siblings.

"I imagine you have already figured out that we are from an alternate universe." He nodded since she was still looking at him.

"What day is it?" she asked.

"June 29, 1975," His dad answered this time. She did not look away from him. It was a little unnerving being the subject of her eyes; it felt as if she were probing into every layer of him and finding places in himself he did not even know existed.

"Then our world is exactly 20 years ahead of this one to the day. My name is Hazel and my brother's name is Harry. Our dad's name was James Potter, we are your counterpart's children," she said. After the shock settled deep into his bones she turned her eyes toward her brother. It was a relief to be out from under her scrutiny, but he could not help but feel a loss at the break in eye contact. Though at the moment he was not sure what all he was feeling. Protectiveness. Anger, at whoever had caused the saddened look haunting her eyes, there even under the laughter. Curiosity. Guilt. But predominantly shock.

He looked at the boy, his counterpart's son. No wonder they looked so alike. It was typical for Potter men to take strongly after their fathers. The main difference he could see was that Harry had a darker skin tone, like his sister's. He looked back at her. She was leaning back and looking out the window opposite her bed now.

"Mom and Dad died when we were one. We were sent to live with our Muggle aunt and uncle. Aunt and Uncle did not like magic or anything they saw as "abnormal" and treated us accordingly. They abandoned us when we were 6, along with their son, who had shown some signs of being magical.

"When we were eight we started displaying Elven magic, which is not just typical accidental magic for children. The use sparked Elven instruments which monitored when part-Elf children first begin showing signs of Elven magic. Someone was sent to speak to our guardians and upon seeing that we weren't living with any adults they took us and our cousing back to the Elven realms. We later went to Hogwarts and we will be in Sixth year now. We can take OWLs again here if you need us to, but we probably should not try to do History of Magic since our history may differ slightly from yours."

"That sounds fine to me. You and your brother may take the tests after he wakes up," Albus said. "When do you think he will wake up?"

Hazel looked over at her brother again and replied, "He should sleep for all day tomorrow and then wake up early on July 1, considering his amount of magical exhaustion. It is a pretty normal, if heavy sleep. He will wake up nice and refreshed and so hyper I will want to strangle him within five minutes. It is his pattern for recovery after magical exhaustion, after the one day of extreme energy when he first wakes he will be back to normal," she rather flippantly responded.

Then she tugged her blanket up, lay fully back on her bed, and closed her eyes, obviously dismissing anymore questions.

Everyone walked over to Poppy's office where they would be able to talk without disturbing her and still be able to keep an eye on the two teens.

"You know, we never did ask her how old they were," James stated.

"No we did not, did we," Diana said.

"So what are you going to do with them, Albus," Minerva asked.

Poppy interjected before he could reply, "They will stay under my care until her brother wakes and I can run some diagnostic spells on him to make sure his magic is back up to sufficient levels. Then it is up to you, Albus."

"Actually, I think it should be up to the two of them. I get the feeling my counterpart may have forced some things on them they did not want or need and they are smart enough to choose wisely," Albus contemplated.

"But they have no place to go," Harold said.

Diana straightened at this, she had been watching the emotions playing across her son's face, and she came to a decision when she saw the pain and determination in his eyes and face.

"We can offer them a place to stay at our house," Diana spoke up, and was rewarded with a relieved and thoughtful look from her son. "If they choose not to take us up on it that is their choice, but we can at least offer."

Harold smiled at his wife and nodded, and James smiled and left the room to go sit by their beds again.

Hazel had turned on her left side to face toward her brother's bed. James tucked the blanket up around her shoulders and sat back down.

Harold and Diana were watching their son and smiled. Albus conjured a sofa for them. They sat down as Albus and Minerva left, and Poppy went back into her office.

The Potters settled down to wait for the children to wake up to learn more about their semi-grandchildren.

A few hours later, Hazel began to stir again. When she opened her eyes she smiled, James was asleep in the chair next to her and his parents were curled up on a couch that Dumbledore must have conjured because it was his trademark flamboyant, comfortable style. Then she realized what had woken her up; Harry was moaning and tossing in his bed like he does when his nightmares first start. She quietly climbed out of bed, walked over to his, and climbed in. He settled down pretty quickly after she put her arm around his stomach and laid her head on his shoulder. She tucked her feet under the bottom of the blanket, not bothering to cover up any more, it was a warm night. A few minutes later she was asleep once more.

* * *

**Morning, June 30, 1975**  
The next morning James woke up, disoriented for a moment until he realized Madame Pomfrey must have moved him to a bed during the night. 

He turned his head and saw his parents quietly talking while sharing breakfast with Poppy. She noticed him and motioned him over, making room for him at the table and putting food on a plate for him.

He padded over in bare feet so he would not make noise, reveling in the feel of the cool stone in the summer heat.

"How are you this morning, son?" Harold asked, whispering.

"I'm alright, the shock is wearing off but it is still hard to process. They are my counterpart's kids. I wonder who he married.

"It does explain why I felt so protective of them almost as soon as I walked in. Magical parents have connections to their children, after all, so it follows that I would have some sort of connection with them because my magic is probably really similar to his. Not exactly the same, but similar enough to warrant a connection," he answered as he picked at his food. He was not very hungry this morning.

"That does make since," Poppy assured, "and it might be good for them to have a big brother. Especially one who can help them smile."

"You know whispering does not work with Elves. We have heightened hearing," Hazel mentioned, still in bed.

Harold and Diana blushed, James laughed. Poppy just smiled and went over to the bed.

"Do you need anything this morning, dear?" Poppy asked.

"Some breakfast and a tooth-cleaning charm, or my wand so I can do it," Hazel answered. "Where is my wand?"

"In the bedside dresser, here you go, sweetheart," Poppy handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said as she waved her wand at her mouth, "That is much better."

James chuckled again and brought over a plate of breakfast foods for her.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked her.

Hazel went quiet for a moment, looked out the window and wistfully replied, "I would love to go flying."

Diana looked toward Madame Pomfrey, "You are perfectly healthy, I see no reason you can not go flying for a while. So long as you do not come back with any broken bones." She warned.

"Yes, ma'am," Hazel laughed and stood up. She transfigured her pajamas into day clothes, Muggle style jeans and a button-up, short-sleeve blouse. White sneakers transfigured from the hospital slippers completed the outfit.

"Okay, who is coming with me?"

"I will," James immediately volunteered, eager to go flying himself.

"I will as well," Harold spoke up, "It has been a while since I have gotten the chance to enjoy flying."

"But we did't bring our brooms with us," James mentioned, disappointed.

"No matter, James," Dumbledore said from where he had just walked in the doors, "the school received a donation of Quidditch equipment this summer and a new set of brooms was part of it. Top of the line brooms as well, Nimbus 550s. You may use those."

"Thank you, sir," James called as he tugged Hazel out the door.

Harold shared an amused glance with his wife and followed after his son.

Down at the Quidditch Pitch James took Hazel to the broom shed and grabbed three brooms. He handed one to her and then his dad. They jumped on and took off.

James immediately went up high, doing barrel rolls and loops, gearing up to practice dives. Hazel took some practice laps, turning, stopping, starting, and rolling to get comfortable on the broom. Harold took some practice laps and then did some barrel rolls and loops, leisurely enjoying his first chance to be on a broom in a number of months.

Then Harold noticed that Hazel had climbed higher even than James and was turning toward where he and James were hovering, watching her. As they watched she flattened herself against the broom and before they could blink she had already hurtled twenty feet closer to the ground. Harold was frozen, James, beside him, yelling at her. And right before she would have nose-dived into the ground she pulled up and skimmed the tips of her toes in the grass right above the ground.

Staying just above the ground she stood up on the broom, left foot in front. Swinging her right foot back and forth beside the broom, higher and higher, she back flipped and landed nicely back on the broom handle, hesitating only a second before she brought her left foot up and held it above her head, rotating on the broom with her right foot, spinning herself around as the broom kept moving forward at a quick but steady speed.

Harold and James were now in the teacher's stands sitting on a bleacher, watching her perform. They noticed Remus, Peter, and Sirius walking toward the Pitch with Remus' and Peter's parents. They had noticed the person flying and come to check it out. Harold waved them up to the stands. They settled in without a word, transfixed as he was with this young lady performing aerial feats he had never imagined were possible.

Hazel was in her element, as she dived she left everything behind and entered into her own little world. All that existed at that moment was the broom, the air, and herself. Coming out of it she stood on the broom and began to practice some aerial acrobatics. A back flip followed by a slow spin with her left leg going from as high as she could manage to out at the waist. She turned to face the tail of the broom, her left foot pointed with only the balls of her feet on the broom. She pressed down with her left foot, leaning backwards to maintain balance as her broom gained altitude. Twenty feet, thirty feet, forty feet in the air she finally leveled out and cart wheeled forward toward the tail.

Instead of going all the way through with the cartwheel she continued to support herself with her hands and arms, her legs in a split above the broom. Walking her hands forward a few inches to be at the center she began to spin like a gymnast on the horse beam. After spinning three times she planted her feet behind her, linked together around the broom, rolled the broom over so she was hanging beneath it with just one hand and her feet around the broom. She released her other hand and hung upside down. Rocking her upper body back and forth she grabbed hold of the broom again. Releasing her feet she moved her hands so she was holding the broom like an uneven bar. She began to swing her legs back and forth, spinning all the way around the broom twice, she let go as her lower body came to just above the broom. Twisting and flipping in the air she barely grabbed hold of the broom as she came down. One hand nearly slipping, she quickly swung her legs back up and onto the safety of the flying stick. Laying back on the broom and catching her breath she finally became aware of the world around her once more. Birds were twittering and chattering excitedly, sitting atop the goal posts. But it was a shout:

"Oh my heavens," from the direction of the teacher's box which had her whipping her head that way. Startled that she had forgotten James and Harold were with her and that they had been joined, she blushed. And was sincerely glad she was far enough away that they could not see it.

She let out a sigh, sitting up and turning around to straddle the broom properly, she flew over to join them.

"Hi, I forgot you two were with me," she addressed James and Harold as she dismounted into the teacher's stands, "much less realize that you were joined."

Wiping her hands on her jeans she added, "Afternoon everyone, I am Hazel and sweaty enough you probably do not want to shake my hand right now," she muttered with a rueful laugh.

Remus smiled at her and she had to catch her breath again. He had an amazing smile.

"I am Remus Lupin, this is Sirius Black, and Peter Dubhe, my parents John and Amber, and Peter's parents Lucas and Catrina. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Could you teach me how to do that?" Sirius burst out, unable to contain his excitement. Remus and James both looked on with interested expressions while Peter shook his head.

"My brother and I can teach you, James, and Remus," she began, holding her hand up when she saw a number of the group about to speak, "on certain conditions.

"Number One - Remus' parents and James' parents must agree to it.

"Number Two - My brother or I MUST be with you when you are practicing any of the stunts we show you.

"Number Three- a magical safety net must be fashioned underneath where we teach you and where you practice.

"Number Four- you must listen to us and not disregard a rule we give you because you think it is stupid.

"Number Five- you must keep your grades up, if your grades are not at least Acceptable then we will not hesitate to stop the lessons.

"Number Six- we abide by parental rules as well, if they tell us that they have more stipulations for your lessons or that you have broken another rule of theirs and part of the punishment is not having the lessons then we will respect their wishes.

"You break any of these rules and we will not hesitate to charm your brooms so that all you can do is fly no higher than fifty feet and no faster than thirty miles per hour, turn, stop, and start. You will not even be able to barrel roll.

"Understand?"

"Yes," all three boys chorused.

"Peter, you can learn, too, if you like," Hazel added, "but I thought from your earlier head-shaking at these three that you would not be interested."

"I am not," Peter replied, "thank you for the offer, but I would rather keep my feet on the ground."

"Okay," Hazel said, "I think I am going to head back inside now."

"Yeah, us too," James said, "What about you guys?" he asked the others.

"We were coming to see you," Amber replied, "a house-elf at the Manor said you had come to Hogwarts yesterday and not returned so we decided to meet up with you here. Diana invited us to stay for a while; we were worried when you were not home because she is always so good about remembering when people are coming over. Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine," Harold answered as he made his way downstairs following James and Hazel, who were a couple of feet ahead of everyone else.

"Professor Dumbledore called us yesterday after Minerva found Hazel and her brother unconscious on the school grounds. It would be better to wait until we are inside and seated to tell you why he called us. I am still trying to process it. James is doing a much better job of accepting it than I am."

"Okay, that is fine," John broke in. The adults remained silent after that.

Sirius, however, leaned over toward Remus and Peter, saying, "Is it just me or has James adopted her as his little sister?"

"It's not just you," Peter whispered back. "I feel for any guy who wants to date her, she's already got a brother and now James has appointed himself older brother. No guy will have an easy time dating her."

"Yes, but she is good looking isn't she," Sirius mentioned. "What do you think Remus?"

"Yeah, very pretty," he muttered and then focused back on Sirius, "but I get the idea she can take care of herself just fine."

"Um hum," Sirius mumbled as he watched his best friend turn and watch every move of the girl walking 20 feet in front of them. He looked at Peter and they shared a knowing expression with each other, their friend has a crush.

Twenty feet in front of them Hazel was sure she was blushing Weasley red to the tips of her hair.

"What's got you blushing?" James asked. "I did not say anything embarrassing, especially considering we have not even been talking for a few minutes, just walking together."

"Nothing, nothing, I am just flushed from flying," she replied, rushing the first words. James just smirked at her.

She elbowed him in the ribs.

_OH MY GOSH_, she thought, _Remus likes me and they are right, James is becoming my big brother, but, OH MY GOSH, REMUS LIKES ME! And he's so cute, those gorgeous amber eyes he got from his mom, that tawny-golden hair, and that easy smile. I am so forming a crush and Harry is going to tease me to no end. James will give Remus a hard time too, he is really stepping into the role of big brother pretty well, after all, and he knows Remus better than I do and does not know that I already know he is a werewolf._

Her train of thought ended as they reached the entrance doors. Remus, Sirius, and Peter caught up with them and the adults were not far behind. They headed for the infirmary. As soon as she stepped inside she grabbed another set of hospital pajamas and a set of towels, headed to the shower and got cleaned up.

While she was in the shower the group outside talked.

"Alright Harold," Lucas began, "what's with the two children and why does the boy looks so much like James?"

"They are from another world," Diana answered for him, "they have the forced jump mark. Hazel told us that their world is 20 years to the day ahead of this one. She and her brother, Harry, are James' counterpart's children. When the boy wakes up we are going to offer for them to join us at home, but I think it should be their decision, I get the feeling they have not been given much choice in what has happened to them up to now, I do not want to take it away from them even without meaning to."

"That is a lot to take in," Cat agreed, "well would you still like us to stay or do you think Sirius, Peter, and Remus should stay with us?"

"Oh, you should still stay," Diana reassured, "having the boys around may help. They need friends their own age."

"There is more isn't there?" John stated more than asked.

Remus looked toward James and realized his friend was nervously fidgeting, brushing his hair back like he did when he did not want to talk about something. He stared at his friend, knowing it was the best way to get him to crack.

"My counterpart and his wife died when Harry and Hazel were one," he finally gave way, "Harry and Hazel were sent to live with their magic-phobic abusive aunt and uncle and were abandoned when they were six."

"Apparently Elves have a way to tell when part-Elven children first begin to use Elven magic and went to talk to them and their parent/guardians when they were eight," Harold interjected. "The Elves took them and their cousin, who had been abandoned with them, back to the Elven realms. Later they went to Hogwarts. Now they are here. That is about all we know."

"That and she is a wicked flyer," Sirius said.

"And she is a wicked flyer," Harold repeated, smiling slightly. You could always count on Sirius to try and lighten the mood.

"And I am 14, my birthday is July 31st, when my brother and I will turn 15, but you have not asked me that yet," Hazel informed them as she walked out of the shower. "You should also learn more about Elves before you try to have a private conversation only the next room over, stone walls or not, water running or not, I could hear you plain as day."

She continued as she walked over to sit by James in the love seat he was in.

"My brother and I would love to come and stay, Mrs. Potter."

Diana gave her a piercing look and said, "Call me Diana, dear."

"--Diana, then. We'll just need to go shopping for clothes and the like after he wakes up. It would also be good if you guys stay with us, Mrs. Dubhe-"

"-Oh, Cat, please sweetie."

"Cat, there are a number of things my brother and I can teach you guys if you give us the chance. Things that may save your life someday, but you will need to stay with us for the summer."

"Do not worry about making the decision now. You can wait at least a week. See for yourselves that we really are good at defense. Do not just take our word for it."

That said she leaned over toward James and whispered in his ear, "It's not your fault, and it was not my dad's either. Don't beat yourself up over it."

She settled against him and laughed the next second when Sirius's stomach growled.

* * *

During lunch, which the house-elves brought to the hospital wing, Remus could not help but keep glancing at Hazel. She was a great conversationalist, knew when to pursue something and when to change the subject. Her friends' interests became hers. The observation encouraged him, she valued the people and relationships in her life not just her interests or possessions. He would bet she was very protective of her brother under the flippant, he will be fine, attitude. 

She was beautiful. Rich, smooth, soft voice. Long, flowing hair and a body with curves in just the right places. Creamy, dark skin and shimmering blue-green eyes. She was dressed to accentuate the positive points of her looks and she was good at it. Not that she needed to accentuate the positive any more. Low-rise, just below the waist, fit faded blue jeans and an emerald green snug cotton tank top brought out her eyes and darker, Indian looking, skin tone. Not too thin, she would probably fit perfectly in his arms.

_Whoa_, he brought himself up short, _where did THAT thought come from?James would kill me if he knew I was thinking something like that, he really is going into older brother mode, which is understandable, but still._

"Remus, are you alright?" James asked.

"Yea, yes, fine."

"You zoned out on us a minute there."

"Just thinking, you know. I wonder when Severus will be able to join us," Remus improvised.

He did not realize the statement would cause a reaction in Hazel. But it sure did. She straightened and turned her gaze on him. And it was not the thoughtful, content gaze of the girl who moments before was talking to Peter about the normal habitats of ferrets while occasionally offering advice to Sirius and James on a prank they were planning. It was the intense, questioning gaze of a warrior just given a new piece of information that would affect her battle plan against the enemy.

"You are all friends with Severus Snape?" she nearly demanded rather than questioned.

"Well, yes," Sirius answered for him, "we have to keep it under wraps because his uncle would kill him for hanging out with us but he is, why?"

"Is he not in Slytherin?" she countered instead of answering.

"Sure," this time Remus answered, "but so am I. There is nothing wrong with being in Slytherin after all."

"So there is not an extreme rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin here?"

"No, why would there be?" James asked, intrigued.

"I do not know, I guess I will just have to find that out," she said as she got up and headed out of the hospital wing.

"Where are you going?" James called.

"The Library," she yelled back and kept going.

"Did any of you understand what just happened?" queried Peter.

Remus replied, "No, Peter, I think we are all in the dark on this."

"Hey boys," Diana came over and asked them a little later on, "Where's Hazel?"

"She went to the library about twenty minutes ago," Remus replied, "we are not sure what for."

"Okay, I guess we will find out when she comes back."

Two hours later, Hazel came skipping back into the room.

"What are you so happy about?" Harold asked from his seat in the circle on the floor where they were playing Gobstones.

Hazel sat herself between Remus and Sirius where there was the most room. She was a bit squished but did not complain so they did not move.

"I just found out something that is going to make my life so much easier here, that is all."

"What did you find out?" Sirius asked.

She leaned slightly against him to take the throwing marble for her turn and answered, "Salazar and Godric came up with a plan in our world that worked well for their short-term goal but had some very far-reaching consequences.

"To defeat the dark leader of their time Salazar pretended to be prejudiced against Muggleborns and Halfbloods. Godric and Salazar staged a fight between them and Salazar left to join the dark lady. About two months later a huge battle broke out; during the battle Salazar attached the lady's followers from the inside. When Godric made his way over to the lady, Salazar and Rowena cast a spell to keep her followers out while Godric and Helga defeated her.

"However, legend got twisted over the years and many people in our world believe Salazar really was prejudiced and evil. There is a lot of prejudice against anyone in Slytherin house simply for being in Slytherin. My brother and I were sorted into Slytherin when we joined Hogwarts. Everyone treated us as if we would be the next dark lord and lady simply because we were smart and we were in Slytherin."

She leant toward Remus this time, reaching over him to grab a snack of grapes off the plate on the other side of him. John was sure he saw his son blush, and he perked up thinking about what that might mean.

"The fact that they did not do that here changes many things. Even though Slytherin house is still known for turning out some dark people the ones who were on the side of the light are just as well known. It is also not taken for granted that every evil or bad person is from Slytherin. There were too many Aurors and others from our world, adults and teens, who automatically assumed that someone who made the bad choice to follow Voldemort must have been from Slytherin. They were much too surprised when Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and Ravenclaws were uncovered as Deatheaters. We will not have as much problem with that here."

"Good, then," Harold commented.

And the game continued. By the time they stopped for dinner everyone had gotten their share of stinky gob juice. They remained in their circle for dinner and just ate picnic style on the floor.

As they were finishing up dinner, Peter queried, "How can we learn about Elves without constantly bothering you and your brother? There are not any books on Elves in the library that I know of."

"There are some but you have to know where to look, and you have to read between the lines with a lot of them. I will get them out of the library for you all tomorrow. Also, if Mr. or Mrs. Potter will take me to the Potter vaults then I can get some of the better books out of there."

"Harold, please Hazel," Harold said, "and there are books on Elves in the vaults?"

"Yes," Hazel answered, "you just have to know where to look there, too."

"Cool," James exclaimed.

"Sorry, Remus," Hazel apologized, "I did not mean to jab you in the ribs."

"S'okay," answered Remus, trying not to grimace.

When Remus' parents and Peter all glanced quickly at Peter's parents, Hazel swallowed her question, instinctively knowing that Peter's parents had yet to be told about Remus' condition and realizing that they had not seen him wince. Instead, she lightly squeezed his left forearm, hoping to convey to him that she knew and understood.

Remus looked at her, she just smiled, squeezed his arm again and let go, turning back to finish her dinner. Sirius, James, and Remus' parents all picked up on the byplay between the two, wondering exactly what it might mean.

"So, Hazel, what year are you and your brother in? Fifth, right?" Sirius asked, effectively redirecting the others' attention.

"If it were just by age then we would be, but our Elven guardian, Zata, sent us to Hogwarts early because our human magic was increasing just like our Elven magic was, since we were practicing it, but we did not know how to effectively control our human magic. We are only one year ahead of the year we are supposed to be in so we will be in the same year as you, Sixth."

"Oh, well, how are your grades? You do not have trouble because of the higher level or anything do you?" Harold asked.

"No," Hazel answered, "We do just fine."

"What about you four," she added, "how do you do in school? Tests? Homework?"

Peter answered this time, "I do okay on homework and tests, not stellar. James and Sirius make excellent grades on tests but hardly ever do as well on homework. Remus does the best, excellent test grades and homework grades."

"Well, if James and Sirius want to learn to do aerial feats like my brother and I can then they will have to get on the ball with homework," she nonchalantly replied. "When I said they have to keep grades up I meant on assignments as well as tests and their overall grades."

Sirius and James gave each other horrified looks at this, but silently decided learning to pull off such cool stunts would be a good enough reason for actually trying, they shuddered at the thought, in school.

Hazel smiled and redirected the conversation again, "What do you adults here do for jobs?"

"I am an Auror," Harold answered, "and John is my partner, actually."

John nodded and then Amber spoke up, "I am a healer at St. Mungo's."

"I work for the bookstore in Diagon Alley, Flourish and Blott's, finding books for them to buy and forming relations with overseas partners and customers," Cat said.

"I work for Ollivander partially and as a supplier for Care of Magical Creatures professors all around the world. I specialize in obtaining rare, exotic creatures. Occasionally I also supply creatures for Defense teachers," Lucas added.

"My work is with the Unspeakables," Diana quietly stated, "and I can not say anything more about it."

"Understandable," Hazel replied, mentally cataloguing all of their careers and the possible strengths and weaknesses each career suggested about the people.

Conversation during the rest of dinner centered on more trivial things. The group all felt they had covered enough serious topics for the day and picked up on the fact that Hazel was getting tired, still recuperating from magical exhaustion as she was, they were not surprised.

Not long after dinner was cleared away Hazel fell asleep leaning against Remus.

"I think it is time to put her to bed," Harold said with a smile.

Diana added, "The rest of us should probably get some sleep as well, since her brother will most likely wake up tomorrow and it will be a busy day."

"Yeah," James agreed. "Remus you can probably go ahead and put her with her brother, she ended up with him last night. Just put her on top of his blankets and tuck another one over her feet and legs."

Remus nodded and deposited her beside her brother. He grabbed another blanket and covered up her legs.

Everyone else grabbed a bed, the adults making beds larger so they could share with their spouses.

* * *

**July 1, 1975**

Harry slowly woke up, in possession of some basic facts. First, his mouth tasted as if he had been asleep for a few days at least, he remedied that with a flick of his wand he found by touch on the bedside table. Second, he had to go to the bathroom. Third, he was lying on a Hogwarts hospital bed in a pair of the distinctively itchy feeling pajamas. And fourth, there was a head on his chest up under his chin, an arm across his nose, and a leg on top of his. Since he was not reacting to the person's presence he would bet it was his sister.

Sure enough, he opens his eyes and sees his sister's trademark dark red-black hair tickling his chin and face, fanned out as it tends to get while she sleeps. Deciding that waking her as he tried to get out from under her would be unavoidable he gently lifts her off him and more to his side. Her eyes open and she murmurs,

"Nice to see you in the land of the living again, little brother," Hazel moved aside more so he could climb off the bed. "We're going shopping for clothes and other basics, today," She added as he walked to the bathroom.

Hazel was sitting up on a bed with what must be a younger Remus Lupin, he notes as he comes back out of the bathroom.

She turns to Harry and says, "Hi, Harry, we are in an alternate universe, so they all know who we are. It is July 1, 1975 and this is Remus, if you have not already guessed."

"I have," he answers cheerfully as he skips over to their perch. He could not help it, he is just so hyper.

"Can we wake the others up so we can go already?" he asks.

Hazel rolls her eyes, "Transfigure your pajamas into day clothes first and Remus and I will wake the others."

"Okay," Harry happily replied.

Remus had to choke back a laugh. He and Hazel woke up the adults first, then Peter. Harry was finished changing his outfit as they were trying to wake James and Sirius.

"Oh, let me wake them up, please," Harry pleaded with Hazel, "please, please, please."

"Okay," Hazel easily surrendered, a wicked glint entering her eyes.

"Yes," Harry cheered, bouncing forward to the side of the bed Sirius and James had ended up sharing because they had been talking, most likely planning something, the previous evening when they fell asleep.

Pulling out his wand, Harry conjured a bucked over their heads. Flicking his wand in a downward motion the bucket dumped first ice cold water and then honey on them as they jumped up from the shock of the ice water. He then sprayed feathers from his wand, laughing gleefully as they stuck to the honey covered boys.

Sirius and James glared at him until they realized who they were glaring at and James exclaimed, "Hey, you are awake and that was a great prank, by the way. Though, this means war, you know?"

"Bring it on," Harry challenged. By this time everyone else had dissolved into laughter from the spectacle.

"Fine, fine," Harold interjected, "but war can wait until tomorrow, we already have an agenda for the day. Let us get breakfast and then decide where we want to go first."

Everyone nodded and gathered around the table Hazel had conjured. Diana summoned a house-elf, and shortly after a gourmet feast sat in front of them. The table was quiet as everyone dug in.

"Okay, what do you want to do first?" Diana addressed Harry and Hazel.

"Well," Hazel answered, "first we need to go to Gringott's and check out the accounts the Founders left for us—"

"—the Founders?" John asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied, as he tapped his foot, "they are from our universe, too, and Rowena is a seer so she knew two of their descendants would also come here. They set up a separate account at Gringott's for those descendants and here we are."

"Can we go now, Hazel?" Harry whined.

Hazel rolled her eyes and said, "Calm down, we have to have some sort of plan since we are in such a large group. We need the basics, clothing, school supplies, and books. Also, I am sure you want to visit a music store and I want to visit an art store and a fabric shop. That means we need to go to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and Muggle London. Since we need to visit Gringott's first anyway we can make all of our Diagon Alley stops then. After that we can just go to Muggle London from The Leaky Cauldron, and then we can visit the stores in Hogsmeade on the way back here."

"That sounds good, but don't forget that I want to go to Quality Quidditch," Harry reminded her.

"Quality Quidditch is definitely a stop, who do you think I am?" Hazel replied. "Now let's go."

"Yes," Harry enthusiastically shouted and ran out the door. The rest of the group looked on with dazed looks and just followed him out.

Once the group got to Gringott's, Hazel went straight to the desk with the plate **Ancestral Vaults Claim** inscribed upon it. The goblin looked down at her from his perch eyeing her casual attire of Muggle flared, dark green jeans and a dark brown cami with tan embroidery. She was with a few people the goblin didn't recognize, and, oohooo, the Potters.

"I am Hazel Potter from the realm of White Earth, heir of Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff," she spoke in fluent Gobbledegook, including correct body and hand gestures, "this is my brother, Harry Potter."

Harry took over at her motion, nodding slightly down and to the right, in greeting, as he spoke, "We are here to check the vaults, shares, and land our ancestors set up for us when they first came here. It is the Heirs of Hog's Haven's White Earth vault."

The goblin's eyes widened at these two young human children's excellent use of goblin language and gestures, and then their claim registered. He looked more closely at them and realized that they were, in fact, Elven not human. Still narrowing his eyes in skepticism, he responded:

"Do you have the key?" in Gobbledegook with a gravelly kind of voice.

In reply, Hazel simply took out a flat, round, golden object with shiny platinum like triangular shapes along the side. The heir rune the Four Founders used in the White Earth universe was etched into the middle of the curious token. Just the fact the girl could touch the valuable item had his mind working in overdrive about the implications and nearly had his jaw dropping, a feat since goblins were rarely surprised enough to drop their mouths open.

He quickly bowed to her and said, "I apologize but we must be careful, we have had people try to falsely claim it once or twice. I must retrieve my manager. He is the only one who may take you down to the vault."

"Thank you," she answered and handed the coin like token to her brother, "and I understand, thank you for guarding our vaults so well."

Digron hurried to Ragnok's office, he had so much to tell his boss. He didn't even give the secretary a second glance when the young goblin tried to tell him Ragnok was in a meeting, he just bared right in, which was very rude and un-goblin like.

The Eldars of the Goblin Warrior Guild stood, hands on weapons. Ragnok motioned them back down when he realized it was one of the young pages working under Ancestral Claims.

"What is the meaning of this Digron? You know that meetings of the Guild are not to be interrupted," the stately goblin demanded.

"Sir, sorry sir," Digron apologized, "but the fabled Warriors of White Earth are here, the Founders' original eldest heirs. They showed me the key, it is authentic and the brother and sister can both touch it. Sir, they also know our language and gestural communication customs exceptionally well, as if they were born and raised goblin."

All the Eldars were alert at the mention of White Earth, the name the ancient alliance had given to the world the Founders had come from. They understood the significance of their heirs from that world now being in this world, which was called Gold Night in prophecy.

Ragnok immediately turned to the Guild Eldars and made his apologies, "Please contact me with times you can come for a make-up meeting, ladies and gentlemen."

"Certainly," the second highest rank of the Eldars answered, knowing all the rest understood the importance of Ragnok's meeting with these two clients.

* * *

Meanwhile, the group waiting in the lobby was nonplussed. John was the first to get voice back, "You two know Gobbledegook?"

"Yes," Hazel answered shortly.

Harry elaborated, "We are heirs of the Founders, which means we have political sway that others do not. To properly exercise that influence it is necessary to be knowledgeable about the political conflicts and agendas affecting society. To do that, we must be able to communicate with the people those political conflicts involve."

"Makes sense," Remus mused, "would you teach me Gobbledegook?"

"Me too," Peter asked.

"We'd be delighted to," Hazel answered, giving Remus a sidelong glance and smiling at Peter.

Suddenly Hazel and Harry straightened. A rather tall goblin wearing dark brown pants of the finest Acromantual silk, a beige shirt of Egyptian cotton embroidered with gold and silver thread, and dark leather thonged wooden sandals approached them. He wore a dark leather belt carrying a few potions vials, two knives, and a long dagger marked this goblin as a warrior.

Hazel and Harry immediately gestured in the manner of apprentices greeting a master, showing deference by waiting for the warrior goblin to speak first.

His brown-gold eyes sparked at the sight, noting the humility the gesture spoke of. These two Elven teenagers could order him to do as they wished with no respect to him; such was the difference between their partially inherited, partially gifted, and partially earned position in society and his own.

"Greetings, if you would like, young warriors, we can speak more freely in the lobby of your vaults. I am Ragnok, Chieftain Eldar of the Goblin Warriors' Guild, and Head Goblin of Gringott's. I will be at your service today. Would you like for your friends to come along as well?"

"Yes, please," the girl replied, "my name is Hazel Potter, Unicorn Child, Founders' heir. This is my brother Harry, Phoenix Child, Founders' heir," she gestured to the messy haired young man beside her, whom was also dressed in casual Muggle attire, black jeans and a tan, light green, and forest green vertically striped shirt.

"James Potter is our father's counterpart. His mother and father, Diana and Harold are there, Remus Lupin is the tawny haired young man with amber eyes, his parents, John and Amber are behind him. Sirius Black is the grey-eyed boy next to James, Peter Dubhe is the blond-haired, brown-eyed boy with Remus and his parents, Lucas and Catrina are in the back," she gestured to each as she introduced them.

Harry translated for the others as Hazel introduced everyone.

Ragnok nodded, asking, "Would you like to revert to English so they can understand us?"

"Not until we're in the safety of the vaults," Harry answered, "There are sensitive topics we must discuss and it will be best to have our actual conversation of substance when ensconced in the wards of our vault."

"Agreed," Ragnok smiled, "an excellent observation and suggestion on your part, young warrior."

Harry inclined his left hand, accepting the compliment. It was especially meaningful because goblins rarely give compliments to their own apprentices, much less young apprentices of other races.

Ragnok stopped them in front of a plain wooden door at the very back of the hall, a door last entered 10 years before by goblin only, and last entered by a non-goblin over 1,000 years prior to their current visit. A door that other people in the hall could not see since it was so far in the back and so well concealed by shadows, artfully hidden without any use of magic at all.

"Take your key and place it in the middle of the door," Ragnok instructed. "Then state your name, origin, and heir status, followed by your business here. Mind that it all be in Elven."

Harry handed the key to Hazel and she did as instructed. The door opened and the group stepped in to see two large, comfortable looking carts. Ragnok ushered Hazel into the first and Harry into the second, while he sat in the first. Everyone else split between the two.

Ragnok tapped the front of the first cart with his finger. The carts started off down the tracks and the others in the group marvelled that the ride was much smoother than the normal carts.

Down and down they went, passing stalctites and stalagmites, twisting, turning, and never seeing a vault, but hopelessly lost amid the single tunnel anyhow. And then they saw dragons, not the smaller kind that guarded the vaults on the level with the Potter, Black, and Lupin ancestral vaults, but ones in between the size of the small Ice Dragons and the normal dragons. This unique species were still quite a bit larger than humans however, as even the small Ice Dragons were at least as big as an elephant.

"Those are Faedragons, like the smaller Ice Dragons they are bred specifically for guarding things and their natural habitats are deep in mountains. Much more social than normal dragons, they are very ferocious when intruders threaten their masters or their masters' possessions. No one can come down to the vaults without one of the two of you and you must be in one of these carts when you come," Ragnok explained, in English so that everyone would understand.

Two of the dragons, a girl and a boy, began to follow them. Ragnok spoke to them but they ignored him and kept following the carts. He tried to cajole them back to their posts, but to no avail.

Suddenly, the female roared without blowing fire and made some clicking noises. Harry and Hazel laughed, the young dragon was funny.

"I am sorry, Ragnok, we do not mean to be rude but Aine is funny," Hazel apologized.

Ragnok frowned. " I did not tell you her name," he stated.

"No, she did," Harry quipped.

"You can hear and speak with her?"

"Sure, her brother Ailbhe is funny too," Harry replied again. "They want to see what it is like outside. Can they do that?"

"Yes, if you let them," Ragnok answered, "those two are special dragons, twins. They are the only two dragons we know of that are mixed. We found their mother before she laid eggs. She is a Faedragon, their father was one of the last of the Jeta Dragons, they prefer sunlight but these two twins have been content down here with their mother until now. A trait unique to Jeta's is that even if a person is a beastspeaker the first people to understand them will be their masters, no one else. Congratulations, you have beautiful familiars."

"Really," Hazel questioned. When Ragnok nodded she continued, "I have known the legends around Jeta's since shortly after we first entered the Elven realms, but not much is known about them and some of it is purposefully left out. Amazing, we have dragons."

"Yes," Harry agreed, awed. The rest figured they were going to be remaining speechless throughout the visit to Gringott's, they were already so gobsmacked at everything that had transpired.

Aine and Ailbhe followed them all the way down to the vault, settling themselves across from the vault platform on a two-tiered outcropping of rock.

The group climbed out of the carts, Hazel, Harry, and Ragnok in the front. Large double doors guarding the vault greeted them, large enough for Hagrid and Madame Maxime to pass through side by side and have extra room. Gorgeous solid pine constituted the doors with a burnt on replice of the key at about waist height. Pure Elven silver and pure gold inlays formed a design of a baby unicorn and phoenix playing together surrounded by bronze and cast iron inlays of Celtic and tribal knots.

Harry and Hazel placed their hands upon the Phoenix and Unicorn, respectively, with practiced ease at catching the two romping around. Hazel gave her name, parentage, heir status, Elven MA status, and her titles. After Harry finished the doors opened inward to the vault, revealing a grand but moderate sized hall of white and green checkered tile floors with burgundy marble walls and natural cave ceiiling. Hanging stalactites were casting a rainbow of colors around the room.

A gorgeous purple heartwood rolltop desk and chair were to the right, a small sitting area with a sofa, two large wingback chairs, and a coffee table were situated on a rug to the left. Four doors were spaced at intervals on the wall facing the entrance door. The first door on the farthest left was a medum oak with a honey yellow finish, the second a medium cherry with a clear finish, the third a white pine with a slight green finish, and the fourth a contrast of white birch and black walnut with a slight blue finish.

Ragnok motioned to the sitting area and conjured a few extra seats for everyone. Hazel and Harry sat together in one of the large armchairs that was nearly a loveseat. They faced Ragnok and he began.

"First, we need to go over the parameters the Founders' originally placed on the vault," Ragnok stated, "then we will discuss the contents of each vault and where you can locate complete inventories of the material vaults, the updating statements in the monetary vaults which must stay here, and the schedule for statements to be sent to you. Then we may speak of any questions or considerations you might like to attend to now."

Harry and Hazel nodded so he continued.

"When the Founders created the vault they had a few stipulations. These stipulations were:

"No one lower than the rank of bank manager could handle this vault.

"The security wards placed for entrance to be allowed into the vault, which you have witnessed already." Harry and Hazel nodded so Ragnok continued,

"A fraction of the money earned must be placed in a vault for charity, which is the first door you see on the left. Part of which automatically goes to St. Mungo's and part to Hogwarts, the rest is there for the two of you to decide how it will be used.

"As much as you prefer may be taken from your monetary vault, the second door, and your material possessions vault, the third door; but, specific rules regulate what can and can not be removed from the fourth vault.

"And, most importantly, ONLY the two of you may enter the fourth vault unescorted. Anyone you wish to accompany you must be physically escorted into the vault by one of you."

Ragnok regarded the two of them to gauge their reactions. The young Elves only seemed to be listening intently, not unduly surprised. Hazel nodded that they understood and made a forward moving gesture with her right hand, indicating for him to 'please continue'.

"The Founders' also gave us permission to update shares, stocks, and bonds, and manage properties they owned then and add properties to your ownership. The majority of the stocks, shares, and bonds you hold are with Gringott's, Hogwarts, Potions Parts, Flying Feats, Maritime Minds, Oxford University, Oxford University Press, Woolworths, Apple Records, Debenhams, Harrods, and a variety of other businesses.

"You have a variety of properties in varying places throughout the British Isles, Mainland Europe, the upper coast of Africa, two in North America, one in South America, and one in New Zealand. A comprehensive list of all of your properties and their corresponding values can be found in the second to top drawer in the desk.

"There are three main ones you should be more concerned with. The first was dubbed **The Escape** by The Founders' and is a large property in the very southern tip of Ireland, from below the city of Cork to the town of Dungarvan, and crossing the Celtic Sea to include a part of England below Bideford but above Bodmin and it's Eastern bounds stretching nearly to Exeter.

"Second, is called the **Lost Haven Tree**. It is at the coast, stretching across the French/Italian border and includes an island just off the coast from the main property.

"The third is in Romania. It consists of the current Dragon Preserve as well as a couple hundred acres perimeter area not being used. The Dragon Colony is situated right in the middle of the property. You two receive rent from the colony owner in a percentage of the profit from tourists and the selling of dragon parts when a dragon dies."

Ragnok slowed down a bit and wound up, "each of these properties is unplottable and have many safeguards on them. The most well-protected is **The Escape**."

"There is also a binder listing all your stocks, bonds, shares, etc. in the second to top drawer next to the land properties binder. Both of these are yours to be removed from the vault if you wish."

"Now," the Head Goblin began again, "I have a file in my possession that only I may access. Inside this file is a copy of the properties, stocks, etc. that you own as well as a self-updating copy of your monetary vaults and a rough outline of what occupies your material possessions vault, not including what is in the fourth vault. You may find an inventory of the physical possessions vault at the very front after you go in the green door; there will be three copies, one to leave here, and one for each of you to take. Each of the copies is self-updating.

"Self-updating statements are located at the beginning of each monetary vault, but these may not be taken out of the vaults. A statement can be mailed to you either monthly, quaterly, or annually, whichevery you please."

"Monthly, please," Hazel answered, "but only one, not one for each of us unless we specifically request it. Since we live together there is no use in wasting parchment and ink on two copies."

"That is amenable, do you have any questions or concerns regarding anything else?" Ragnok politely quieried.

"Yes," Harry started, "is there a way to pay for magical and muggle purchases without pulling out lots of money and carrying it around?"

"Certainy, there are two special moneybags along with two regular in the top drawer of the desk. The two special moneybags will remove Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts for their respective half of the money vault, which is split equally between you. All you must do is stick your hand inside and state the amount you need. The regular moneybags can be used to carry money with you for smaller purches, they are charmed to be featherlight and larger on the inside."

"We have muggle style cheques to use in the muggle world. They look fully normal to a muggle but are routed to a special box which is then sent here and the money is duly pulled from the correct vault, exchanged to muggle money, and sent to the business. We also have a special moneyclip which is charmed to hold about 300 pounds worth as made up by 50 pound notes but to only seem as if it has at the maximum 50 pounds to anyone but yourselves. This moneyclip also has a small pouch for coinage, which is charmed to magically expand and be featherlight."

"Both of the cheque service and the moneyclips are free to clients with over five hundred thousand Galleons. Would you like this?"

"Yes, cheques for each of us so they'll pull from the correct half of the vault and a moneyclip each would be wonderful," Harry thanked him.

"Alright," Ragnok said and made a whirling motion with his left hand, immediately a leather bound, zippered folder landed in his outstretched hands. Extending it to Hazel and Harry he said, "here are the designs of cheques we have so far, you each should choose a specific graphic to put as a watermark behind the signature line to personalize your cheques further. There are also moneyclips in the folder for you to choose from. The moneyclips may be engraved or otherwise personalized upon request. Look through those and let me know which ones suit you and what graphic you would like."

Hazel sat back with the folder propped up between her and Harry. She immediately picked out a cheque with a pale gold and blue colour scheme. Harry took more time, flipping the pages and browsing before finally choosing one with a black , bronze, and sage green colour scheme. Next they flipped to the back where a pack of moneyclips were sitting. Hazel took a moneyclip which was gold with an ovular inset of obsidian offset by a small square moonstone. Harry picked out a gold moneyclip with an inset of magical fire opal.

Turning to Ragnok, Hazel asked, "do you have a spare piece of parchment and quill handy, please?"

"Yes, certainly," Ragnok replied and pulled the requested items out of a pocket and handed them to her.

She took them and immediately started sketching something out, after getting a nod from Harry she handed the parchment back to Ragnok. There were two sketches; one of a baby poalth cub, long staff, and bow and arrow; the other of a baby liyont cub, staff, and sword.

"I would like the one with the poalth cub, staff, and bow and arrow on my cheques and engraved on the money clip, and the other picture is for Harry's things," Hazel requested.

Ragnok nodded and motioned for them to hand over their choice of cheque designs and moneyclips. He briefly placed his hand over each moneyclip and handed them back with the appropriate engraving now etched on. Only a second more was needed for him to place the right graphics on the cheque designs and hand back a cheque book with a sufficient supply to each of the teens.

"May I help you with anything else today?" Ragnok inquired.

"Yes," Harry began, "I believe you are aware of the misdeeds of a particularly powerful person in government?"

"Yes, all of the goblins in the Guild have been keeping an eye on that person for quite some time," Ragnok replied. "We have a good deal of information that could help you to confront, if you wish to do so."

"We do," Harry stated, "but we'll need to look over all of the information you already have. I would also like to suggest getting one of your top curse breakers to check people who are close to him for any signs of magical tampering. Would this be possible?"

"Yes, we will be sure to do that. Is there anything else you need today?"

"No, not at the moment, we're simply going to browse our vaults and then head out for the day. We should see you in a week or so. Please do not let us keep you occupied if you have other business to attend to," Hazel politely responded.

"Very well, if you need me then simply speak my name and request my audience, I will receive the message," Ragnok answered and disappeared silently.

"You have shares in Gringotts?" Sirius sounded completely nonplussed.

"We do, too," James added, "so it doesn't surprise me."

"Alright, let's look through the vaults and pick up our copies of the lists, then get our copies of the things in the desk. We'll look at all of it more thoroughly later," Hazel suggested.

Harry grabbed the moneybags from the desk, as well as the land properties folder and stocks folder. He handed the dark blue and sage green moneybags to Hazel. Wine red and butter yellow moneybags were duly placed into his own pockets.

Hazel had retrieved the invoice binder from the charity vault, so they opened the door to the second vault. Mounds and mounds of gold, silver, and bronze coins greeted them. They grabbed handfus of each coin and shoved them in their normal moneybags, sage green for Hazel and yellow for Harry. As they exited they picked up the statements from this vault.

Next was the possessions vault. Everyone was absolutely gobsmacked when they entered it. Five sections separated the room Two trunks were set up just inside the door, next to the stand with the invoice binder, which they duly took. Each trunk had five different colored spots where a key might be placed, except there were no holes.

Hazel chose the solid mahogany trunk with bronze and black cast iron inlays. The buttons were a medium bronze, black iron, dark bronze, silver-gray iron, and aged bronze. Each had an Elven rune for a number out of 1-5 on it.

Elven silver and aged copper inlays graced the midnight black Ebony trunk Harry chose. Copper hinges connected the top and bottom while the keys were all Elven silver with Elven runes for a number out of 1-5 on them.

Harry and Hazel placed their thumbs on the first button to open the trunks, a bright beige light shone out—scanning their thumbprints and magical signatures. Once the scan completed the trunks opened, revealing the first compartment to be a place to store robes, casual clothes, and supplies with a connecting door leading to a small potions' workroom large enough for three people, and housing storage cupboards for completed potions and an ingredient cupboard.

Another door in the potions' room led to a hallway connecting the compartments together. Entering the second compartment from this hallway, Hazel found it to be a storage place for brooms, Quidditch and other sports equipment and a ladder going down into a muggle/magical training room.

The third compartment was a one-level library and music room with an empty space large enough for a baby grand piano and an instrument rack. In the middle of the room lay a dance floor and little rooms for house-elves were off of the library on the left wall.

A forest-like scene greeted them in the fourth compartment. Small herb, vegetable, and fruit gardens were off to one side, a moderate pond on the other with a creek trickling into it. Trees and other wild growth were interspersed throughout the woodsy rooms.

Moderate sized apartments with a small kitchen, a living room, a medium sized meeting room, a bathroom, and a fairly large bedroomed comprised the fifth apartment.

Hazel and Harry were in awe, even the magical trunk they had shared in their world had not been so extravagent as these. The compartments were plain in color, but only because the two had not changed the design yet.

Done with perusing their trunks and placing their folders and such in Hazel's trunk, thy joined everyone else in the first section of the vault, which was the section of clothes and jewelry. Nearly everyone was looking at the tunic-like, and Asian like Elven clothes which were so different from what they were used to. Hazel and Harry first went over and picked up the traditional clothing, robes, and cloaks for the Unicorn and the Phoenix children. Then they walked over to where the others were standing.

"See anything you like?" Harry questioned, rather loudly.

Remus and Harold were the only ones who did not jump. Harold turned, smiled and replied, "Yes, but this is yours."

"Nonsense," Harry answered, "we can't possibly use all of these clothes, especially since not all of them are our size. Feel free to pick out some things for yourselves. We'll put them in our trunks, in separate stacks so we know whose is whose," he continued as he looked through the clothes himself, picking things out.

Everyone else began picking things out, too. Pretty soon they had decent sized stacks of clothes and even some jewelry. Harry and Hazel had the most by far, since they had no clothes in this universe and were trying to stock up.

In the next section Harry and Hazel automatically took over, grabbing their own battle robes and then grabing ones for the others. They also stocked up from the Elven weapons, staves, bows and arrows, swords, daggers, knives, throwing stars and slingshorts with special pebbles.

Lots of books greeted them in the third section. Hazel and Harry picked out different books about Elves, magical theory, Animagus training, battle strategy, warding, prank magic, and some grimories of spells and potions. The others also picked out some books they thought might be useful to the twins including history, politics, magical traditions, and geography books. Hazel, Harry and the Marauders also took enough scrolls of parchment to last them through the year. Also, Hazel and Harry found some empty bindings and loose-leaf sheafs of parchment as well as two journal like books, one with music paper in it and one with sketch papaer in it. They picked out five quills each, some black ink, some blue ink, some red ink, and a variety of other tyes incuding an invisible one with revealer ink.

Next they picked out various cauldrons in all sizes and potions' ingredients.

Finally, they entered the section with Elven musical instruments and Elven magical devices. Hazel and Harry each picked a baby grand piano, Hazel also picked out a pipe-flute, a strange violin like instrument, and a drumset. Harry picked out three different kinds of pipe-flutes, a string bass, a horn, and some drums.

With all of their selections in the trunks as well as the copies of the inventory, they headed out to check out the next vault.

"Okay," Hazel said," Harold and John, you two want to come in with us first?"

"That is what I was going to suggest," Harold agreed, "and the others should wait here. I want to see why there are so many precautions guarding the stuff in this room before the others come in."

Harry nodded and took John by the shoulder, walking into the vault with him. Hazel grabbed Harold's hand and followed.

All four of their jaws dropped, the room was full of magical objects, **POWERFUL** magical objects. The far side of the room was obviously more heavily warded to be a safe place to house dark ojects. Only Hazel and Harry and people added to the wards would be able to get through. But that is not what they were so mesmerized by.

On the right side of the room there was a display case full of at least seven staves, magical staves, and a table in front of it bearing old wands. Harry went up to the table and picked up a wand made of two woods he had never seen before, and a handle of the purest Elven gold-platinum metal. As he handled it sparks of all different shades of blue, green, red, and yellow, and liquidy colored spouts of silver, gold, bronze, and black erupted from the tip. Warmth flooded through him. He tucked the medium and dark colored wood wan into the empty wand strap on his right forearm. The light and medium colored wood wand with Elven gold-obsidian handle instantly caught Hazel's eye. Yellow, green, red and blue glitter joined black, gold, silver, and bronze ribbons flowing from the wand as she handled it. She, too, tucked it in the wand strap on her right forearm. Both instinctively knew that they would have to make their own staffs, but that these might fit a few of the other teens.

**Let's bring them in one at a time later on,** Hazel thought to Harry.

**Sounds good to me,** he thought back to Hazel.

They perused the other objects, picking up ones they recognized, making notes of ones they did not know to look up, and taking ones John and Harold suggested. Putting stuff into their trunks for safekeeping the four made their way back out to the lobby room to meet the others.

"Hey," Sirius asked, "what was in there?"

"Really powerful magical items," Harry answered, stressing the first word, "we got these really cool wands and some other magical objects but there are also some very dark objects in there to keep unwanted people from getting their hands on them."

Peter cocked his head and queried, "Why don't you just destroy them?"

"Well," Hazel began, considering him, "a lot of the objects have to be taken to special places to destroy them but their sheer concentration of Black Magic would attract someone who has used as much as, say, half of what Voldermort has," she was surprised to see no one flinched when she said his name. Inwardly raising her eyebrows, she continued, "So, taking them out of a place with the heaviest protection afforded is unwise at this time."

"And the others?" Lucas asked.

Hazel and Harry exchanged a look, then she set herself. Her feet shoulder length apart, her shoulders relaxed, her arms clasped behind her back, eyes staring off to no particular spot on the wall, seemingly relaxed, but alert, and a tad uneasy, she explained:

"And the others," spoken at barely more than a whisper, only intensifying the groups predominant perception of this surreal outing as something from the stories about clandestine heros and secret ambushes, "can not be destroyed by any ordinary means or any ordinary being, the one who can destroy them will in time, all we know is that only one of those objects is for us to destroy, the rest are to remain where they are until their part in the play of life comes to pass."

"Anyway," Harry managed to shake everyone out of their somber thoughts, " let's go get stuff, come on, can we go to Quality Quidditch now, please?"

"If you whine I'll send you back to Hogwarts before we're done," Hazel replied, raising her eyebrow and allowing just a touch of exasperation to enter her tone. "First we are going to the necessary places and then Quality Quidditch so we can spend more time there. I vote robes first."

"Okay" Harry huffily surrendered.

So they all left the bank vault, Hazel and Harry asking the dragons to meet them at Hogwarts, to make sure they stay out of sight of the village, and not to harm anyone. Aine and Ailbhe agreed and sort of flashed away. The group headed up to the lobby and out of the bank.

Making ther way to Madam Malkins, Harry and Hazel noticed that this Diagon Alley did not look much different from their own. Twenty years young with less dents, one or two different shops, and one or two shops mission but the place was still essentially the same. They noticed the style of cut for robes was slightly different, and typical colors more flambouyant, faces on the people were different but some strangely familiar. The place had a homey feel to it, a throw back in time to before the world morphed into modern isolation and went and got itself into a damned rush. It was an atmosphere that permeated the alley and energized the twins as they thoughtlessly ignored sights most new visitors didn't stop gawping at until their fifth, sixth, or twenty-fifth visit.

Hazel surveyed the selections in Malkin's with practised, critical eye, mentally cataloguing the ones she already knew she absolutely wanted, ones to try on, and formulating designs and fabrics to have others made out of. She immediately picked out a variety of cuts and styles for casual summer and winter robes and a couple for Harry, too. She grabbed three cloaks: one reversible summer cloak, a heavy winter cloak, and a formal cloak suitable for summer and winter Then she looked at Malkin's selection of formal robes.

Out of the formal robes, Hazel chose three. The first was pure white with a silver golden sheen, thin gold lining, and silvery mesh sleeves for the summer. Another was more dress-like, a beautiful blue-green to match her eyes, a braided tie around the waist, long arms with slightly belled sleeves, and a flared skirt with Celtic embroidery in a slightly darker thread along the bottom of it. This one was an all seasons robe. Lastly was another all seasons robe. It was the most robe-like of the three with a the body and skirt of the robe being dark blue velvet, nearly black, and irridescent. Golden film-like fabric covered the loose fitted blue velvet sleeves and a striking white baby unicorn with gold tipped hooves, gold wings, and a gold tipped silver horn reared on the right shoulder.

Harry's formal summer robe was sage green with slits up each side to the thigh and golden, forest green and wine red embroidery of runic and natural designs along the hem lines and cuffs. One all-year robe was blood red with black lining, turned up cuffs and leather cording tying the cuffs, and an eye-hole collar. The other all-year robe was the same dark blue velvet as Hazel's. His sleeves, instead of being covered with filmy fabric like his sister's, were pointed at the wrist, the couple inches of edge being golden instead of blue. The bottom hem was also golden. A bright white baby phoenix with wine red and bronze tipped wings was covering the left shoulder, part of his chest, and part of his back, encircling his neck with the outstretched wings.

"Excuse me miss," Hazel approached the woman sewing something in the back.

The slightly plump, homel lady turned and said, "Oh, I'm sorry dear, my door charm must not be working again, I did not even hear you come in. I am Madam Malkin, how may I help you?"

Hazel smiled and replied, "We already have some purchases picked out, we would also like to have some robes custom made with specific materials that we will have to get elsewhere. Do you do custom orders?"

"Certainly," Madam Malkin answered, "just send me the material and description or sketch of what you want and your measurements and I'll be happy to make them. They will be done within one to three weeks of receiving them, depending on how much and how detailed your order is. Cost will also depend on quantity and detail."

"That sounds wonderful, we'll be back with the materials and directions in the next few days," the girl replied as she handed over the correct change for her other purchases. "Also, ma'am, muggles use little bells attached to the wall over the door, which ring when something on the door hits them as it opens, to let them know someone has come in. You don't have to keep charming them once they're up and we could get one for you and bring it back if you'd like to try one."

"Yes, please," Madam Malkin answered, "I'm ready to try anything."

The girl nodded and exited the shops with everyone else.

"Would the shopping go faster if we split up and all got different things?" Cat asked.

"Yes, a little," Harry considered, "but there are some things we have to pick out ourselves."

"Harry, you can go onto the apothecary and cauldron shop and get what we need since you'll know that better than I will. I'll go talk to Ollivander," Hazel suggested. "Harold, if you and John and Cat could go to Flourish and Blott's and pick out some good books, we're stocking a library so if you think we need it then get it and we'll go over titles before we buy. Amber and Diana, if you could get general supplies and the rest of you can get stuff you think we might need, too. How long do you think it will take you Harry?"

"Fifteen, twenty minutes tops. Can I go now, can I?" he asked, bouncing from foot to foot.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blott's in twenty minutes then, so at 10:30, and from there we can head to Quality Quidditch," Hazel said. "Lucas, could you go with my brother and make sure he doesn't die of excitement or break anything."

Lucas laughed at her delicately raised eyebrow, "Sure, c'mon Harry let's go."

"Finally," Harry instantly bounded off to the apothecary.

"Alright, I'll see you guys in twenty minutes," and with that Hazel was off to Ollivander's.

* * *

James, Sirius, and Peter were perusing some ink and other joke products at Dervish and Bangs while Remus picked out two watches at the store next door. They heard girls laughing and decided to see who was shopping so early in the holidays. When they turned the corner into the next aisle James split into a big grin and Sirius shook his head.

"Lily Flower," James exclaimed, "how are you this lovely day?"

"Potter, why aren't you at your mansion bothering your friends?" Lily scowled.

Frowning, James replied, "I was just trying to be courteous, sorry that bothers you." He turned to Sirius who was talking to one of Lily's friends, "Come on Sirius, we're supposed to meet everybody at Flourish and Blott's soon, we can come back here later and buy our own things since we don't even know if they like pranks."

"Okay, Jamie boy," Sirius replied, "but do you mind if Shamira and her friends come along, she mentioned they have to go to Flourish and Blott's next so I thought we could walk together."

"Whatever," James muttered and opened the door for the girls.

"So, Shamira," Sirius awkwardly began, "do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, Aria and I are orphans, Lily's parents always have us over for at least a month during Summer hols."

"Oh, do you have good friends at the orphanage?" Peter piped up.

"This one guy, Marc, who's appointed himself older brother to both of us. We like helping out with the younger children, too. I'm pretty sure a good few of them are magical. The Headmistress loves magic, asks us all about school when we get back. I think she's more excited about when we'll be of age than we are, since then we can show her some magic. She gets so excited when kids perform accidental magic, as well. It's a really great place," Shamira exclaimed.

Aria nodded and put in, "Yes, much better than most orphanages, it's just that Shamira, Marc, and I are the oldest and the next oldest is 12 so there's enough difference in our interests to make it hard to be close friends."

"It sounds like you guys have good times on holidays," James said. He passed Lily, who was sulking at the back of the group.

"We do," Shamira affirmed as Sirius opened the door to Flourish and Blott's.

Remus noticed them coming in first and raised an eyebrow at Sirius after taking in Lily's scowl and James' broodiing look. Shaking his head slightly to indicate to Remus not to bring it up, Sirius directed the girls to where the group was meeting so he could introduce them to Harry and Hazel

"Hi everybody," Sirius started, "this is Shamira, Aria, and Lily. Ladies those two are Remus' parents, then James', and then Peter's. This is Harry," he continued as he indicated everyone.

James perked up a bit and queried, "Harry, where's Hazel?"

"Right behind you," Hazel replied in completely normal tones, succeeding in causing James to jump and spin at the same time.

"You know this means payback, right?" he smirked.

She smirked right back and cockily replied, "I'd like to see you try." Walking past James, she leaned into her brother and addressed the girls, "Hi, I'm Hazel, Harry and I are twins. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, but we're supposed to meet my parents at The Leaky Cauldron soon," Lily said, "maybe we'll see you around sometime."

"I'm sure we will at some point, since my sister and I will be going to Hogwarts with you," Harry replied.

"Cool, see you there at least," Lily somewhat distractedly answered as she tugged Aria and Shamira out the door.


	2. Empathy and Exams

This fic is unbetaed. If anyone would like to beta this for me then please email me. You can find my email on my profile page. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Anything you recognize is probably Mrs. Rowling's or another famous person's work. If you don't recognize it then it is mine. I make no money off of this at all.

* * *

**Continue, July 1, 1975**

"What was that about, Lily?" Aria demanded. "He just asked you how you were."

"He called me Lily Flower."

"So," Shamira interjected, "He's done that since first year and you've never gotten all up in arms about it before."

"I just wasn't in the mood for teasing. Just forget about it we have to meet my parents anyway."

Shamira and Aria looked at each other in befuddlement and followed after their friend.

* * *

"Why was she upset?" Hazel addressed James, Sirius, and Peter. Her brother had already paid for the books so she wasn't concerned about that.

"Don't know," James sullenly retorted, "I just asked her how her day was."

Hazel frowned and thought about that statement, "Did you call her anything?"

"No! I don't name call for no reason."

Sirius put a hand on James shoulder to calm him down, "I don't think that's what Hazel meant James." He turned to Hazel and said, "He called her Lily Flower but James has been doing that since first year and she's never gotten snippy about it. Nor would James normally react to a statement like she gave today by getting sulky."

At that Harry gave Hazel a nudge and they looked at James for an unusually long time before, suddenly, Hazel exclaimed, "Oh bloody, our shopping trip's going to have to be cut short."

Turning to Harry she stood up straighter. Authoritatively she ordered, "Harry, go with them back to Hogwarts, use Ollivander's shop."

"Amber, Diana, come with me please."

Walking out the door, she left no room for arguments.

* * *

"How are we going to get back to Hogwarts?" Catrina queried. "There isn't a floo at Ollivander's."

"We aren't using the floo," replied Harry.

Harold frowned, "Harry, we can't make a portkey to Hogwarts, only Dumbledore can do that."

"We aren't using a portkey either."

"It's impossible to apparate onto Hogwarts grounds," Diana said.

"I know," Harry answered with a small smile playing at his lips.

Peter looked at Remus and rolled his eyes. Remus shrugged back at him and Sirius nudged him forward.

"And here we are," Harry said as he opened the door to the wand shop."

"Good day, Mr. Potter," Ollivander greeted, "your sister was in here just a little bit ago. I am not finished with your request yet."

"I'm not here to pick that up," Harry replied. "We need to use your shop as a discreet place to travel to Hogwarts from. It won't take but a second and we'll be out of your hair."

"How are you getting there?"

Harry smiled and Ollivander could swear the boy's eyes were sparkling. "You'll just have to watch and see," the boy said.

Sticking out his arms Harry instructed everyone to grab hold. They all exchanged incredulous looks but did as he told them to. The next second they disappeared in a flash of flames.

* * *

"Hey, Lily, Shamira isn't that Hazel," Aria pointed her out to them.

"Yeah, she's coming our way," Shamira answered.

"Hey," Hazel greeted them.

"Hey Hazel," Lily said. "These are my parents and my sister, Petunia."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Hazel shook each of their hands. "I'm Hazel. If you'll excuse me for a moment please, I will be right back."

Hazel walked up to the bar and got the attention of the bartender. "Excuse me sir, may I speak with the owner please?" she politely requested, letting a little of her Elven accent through.

"I am the owner, miss. Please call me Tom," the man replied. "How may I help you?"

"I was wondering if there is a private parlor my friends and I might use for about an hour? And how much would it cost?"

"Certainly, it will be 3 Galleons 11 Sickles an hour. I will collect it after you are finished."

"Thank you."

"It's my pleasure young lady," Tom answered as he came around to the front of the bar. "Come with me and I will take you and your friends to the back."

"Hey guys, let's go back to a private room so we can talk more comfortably, okay?" Hazel addressed the others once they noticed her. "I'll explain once we're in the room."

"Okay," Mr. Evans started once everyone was seated, "what needs to be explained?"

"It's more a question to begin with," Hazel replied, never moving her eyes from Lily's.

"Why did it so upset you when James called you Lily Flower?" Lily flinched in her seat, "and why did it upset you just now?"

"I don't want to say," Lily quietly answered.

Hazel shifted forward in her seat a bit and took Lily's hands since the girl was sitting across from her. Making sure Lily was looking right at her, Hazel said, "Lily, I'm an Empath and a natural Legilimens. With the combination of those two gifs I knew as soon as I got within a few feet of you in the dining area that my suspicions were correct. Now, however, I think you need to tell your friends and family."

"No!" Lily yanked her hands from Hazel's, or at least tried. Hazel countered Lily's moves with an experienced hand, keeping a firm grip on the other girl's wrists.

"Yes, I'm quite well aware of exactly what you are going through, Miss. Evans," Hazel quietly but somewhat coolly stated. "My uncle wasn't a big fan of magic, but he sure liked little girls," she put a sarcastic twist on the word _liked_ that left no doubt as to her meaning.

Lily stopped squirming at that and looked back in Hazel's eyes.

"You need to tell not only so you can get help, Lily, but so he can't do this to someone else."

Lily bowed her head and began, "Dad's new client comes over a lot with his son, who's learning the family business. We just met them this summer. Andrew Dursley is Dad's client and a really nice man. I don't know how his son turned out the way he did. Vernon is about a year older than I am, huge, men, and a lot stronger than I am. He, he just started with harassing me, trying to slap my butt or touch my breasts and making rude remarks. When I blatantly refused him he got more aggressive, more physical. He always calls me Flower before he starts hitting me for refusing him, but he puts a real sarcastic bite on it," she looked in Hazel's eyes, pleading.

"You deserve it you freak!" Petunia screamed at her, going to slap her. Hazel caught Petunia's hand and twisted it back.

"You are a jealous prat and I will not allow you to abuse her, physically or mentally, anymore. Get out of my sight," Hazel quietly, but menacingly, ordered. Petunia fled from the room and the building, never looking back. Her mother immediately left after her, shooting a look of contempt at Lily and the strange girl she had just met.

Mr. Evans looked saddened as he hugged his daughter. He turned to Hazel and explained, "Neither my wife nor Petunia have ever really accepted that there are magical people in my family from time to time. I know enough to know that my wife's family probably has had a few as well, but she would never hear that. I'm sorry I let this go on Lily, I didn't realize it was so bad."

"It's okay, Dad, you know now," Lily sniffled.

After they had calmed down significantly, Hazel sat back and finally addressed Mr. Evans.

"I think Madame Pomfrey, Hogwarts School Nurse," she added at his confused stare, "and Mrs. Lupin (she gestured to the amber eyed lady), a healer, should take a look at Lily."

"Yes," Mrs. Evans agreed, "but how do we get there?"

"I'll take you there," Hazel answered as she stood up. She left the required payment on the chair she had been sitting on with a note of thanks attached. Sticking out her arms, she instructed, "Everybody grab hold." In a flurry of snowflakes, the whole group disappeared.

* * *

When Harry landed in the hospital wing the group traveling with him nearly all stumbled and fell. Remus and Catrina were the only ones who kept their footing besides him. He laughed and helped a glaring James up off the floor while the others stood up.

"I thought you said we weren't apparating," Peter accused, "and how did you apparate into Hogwarts!"

"That wasn't apparating Peter," Lucas replied, "you would have felt much more squished if it had been. What I want to know is what method of traveling is that and can you teach me?"

"Sadly, no," Harry laughingly replied. "That method of traveling is something unique to myself."

"So why did we have to cut our outing short?" John asked.

"Because James is an Empath," replied Harry, staring at James as he did, "and his reaction to Lily's comeback coupled with Lily's unease made my sister suspicious about something, especially since Sirius confirmed that it's not usual behavior for either of them."

Harry went sort of still and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Seems my sister's hunch was right," he sighed. "They'll be here after Hazel gets her to tell everyone, that's always the first step."

He abruptly turned away after that statement. Walking to Madame Pomfrey's office he knocked on her door.

"Hello Madame Pomfrey," he greeted, "you should probably set up a bed with privacy screens and a healer's kit for suspected abuse victims, and possibly sexual abuse."

Madame Pomfrey regarded him a moment and asked, "These would not be for you and your sister, I checked that already." She let the upward lift on the last words indicate her desire to know who needed this treatment.

"No, not for us," the young boy sighed, eyes full of a knowledge he shouldn't have, not when he was so young. "For Lily Evans, she has been abused by her older sister, Petunia, and Petunia's boyfriend. My sister will be here with Lily, her father, and two of her friends, shortly."

Poppy nodded and went about readying the beds. As soon as Poppy had placed the kits and the screens around the beds a group of people exploded out of a whirlwind of snowflakes in the middle of the wing. Hazel immediately took charge, sending people off in different directions.

"Lily go to the first curtained off bed, Mrs. Lupin will go with you. Madame Pomfrey please check her over.

Harry looked kind of lost, Hazel turned to him and ordered, "Lily is an Empath so, Harry, you need to go help her stay calm and we'll start teaching her and James how to control their Empathy later, 'kay?"

"Alright," Harry nodded and walked over to the curtained off bed with Mr. Evans who had just been beckoned over by Madame Pomfrey.

After the two disappeared behind the screens Hazel collapsed onto a bed. Remus walked over and sat down by her. He leaned toward her right ear and whispered, "Lily's your mother's counterpart, isn't she?"

Hazel gave him a sidelong glance as she exhaled noisily, "Did you just guess or did you smell it?"

He tensed and looked sort of fearfully at her but her expression held no traces of repulsion or fear. She simply looked interested _and exhausted_, he noticed.

"A little bit of both," he answered. "How long have you known?"

"I'm an Elf," she flippantly replied, "I've known since I met you. I knew 'bout your counterpart when I was tiny, as well as a few things that could get my dad's counterpart put in jail."

"Ah, so you're a true Marauder, hmm?" he jokingly asked, turning to get a better look at her face. She was trying to keep a straight face but the corners of her mouth were turning up a bit.

"You could say that," she rather blandly replied. He nearly laughed aloud at that, but kept it in.

He nudged her until she made eye contact and he said, "Go to bed, your brother can handle Lily and James for now and the other adults can handle the situation with your uncle and aunt's counterparts, I'm assuming." At her nod he pushed her down into the pillows and maintained, "You need to get some sleep and take care of yourself, understand?"

"Yes, sir," she saluted, but lay down anyway. When he went to stand up she whispered, softly enough that he wouldn't have heard if not for his enhanced hearing, "Will you stay, please. I don't want the dreams to come. Will you stay?"

He turned back around and saw the sadness and dread in her eyes, and he knew, then and there, that he could never deny this woman anything. Settling back down onto the bed he put his arm around her and pulled her close. Within a few minutes her breathing evened out and her scent indicated she was peacefully asleep.

When Harry later came out of the curtained off area he immediately smiled at his sister and Remus, who were curled up on one of the beds fast asleep. He noticed some of the adults were looking a bit disapproving but decided they'd deal with it later. Climbing up on the bed to the left of Remus and his sister, he beckoned James to come to him.

James walked over to the bed, befuddled as to what Harry wanted. Harry smirked and took both of James hands in his left hand. Placing his right hand on James temple, he said, "I'm going to put a mild bind on your Empathy, just until Hazel and I can teach you how to shield and all that. I put one on Lily, too. It won't hurt and it's not a total block, it's just enough to keep you from getting overwhelmed.

"There, all done. Now I'm gonna sleep."

And, with that, Harry lay back on the bed and quickly fell asleep, exhausted from the day's events. James quietly chuckled and tucked him in. Then James joined the rest of the group for dinner.

* * *

**July 2, 1975**

_Um, it's too warm to get up, _Hazel thought, _I'm comfortable and I'd have to move his arm. WAIT! Who's arm!_ Her eyes immediately popped open and she firmly told herself to stay calm. In a few seconds she realized it was Remus Lupin's arm around her, her breathing settled down, and, to her horror, a faint blush tinged her cheeks.

Her brother stretched and sat up in the next bed over, shoving Sirius sprawled form off him. He turned to his sister and nearly laughed, but just nearly. While looking around at the others who were all fast asleep, including Sirius who was now on the floor after Harry off the bed, Harry walked over to his sister. Hazel managed to extract herself from Remus _without_ disturbing him. Climbing out of bed she grabbed the blankets that she had been using and tossed them over Sirius even as she laughed at him for not waking up.

Harry rolled his eyes at her and grumpily asked, "What was he doing in _my bed_ anyway?"

"He probably bunked with you because there aren't any other available beds and the adults might let Remus and I share but they _aren't_ going to let **him** share with a girl."

"Whatever," Harry muttered, "c'mon let's leave them a note and head down to the kitchens."

"Alright," Hazel agreed, conjuring the note and leaving it by the water jug. She linked her arm through Harry's and they headed out the door and down the hall.

* * *

Diana woke up and immediately looked toward the bed she knew Remus and Hazel were in and was surprised to see that Hazel wasn't in the bed anymore. Sure enough, when she turned to look at the bed she had last seen Harry in, he was gone as well. She had to stifle a laugh when she realized that Sirius was now on the floor, most likely after being pushed off by Harry, and was _still_ asleep.

After she had returned from the bathroom all freshened up and in a clean set of robes for the day she noticed a note by the water jug. Reading it she was informed that Harry and Hazel had gone to the kitchens. Checking the time she figured it was about time to wake everyone else up and get them all ready. Once everyone was up they all headed down to the kitchens to meet Harry and Hazel.

Once in the kitchens everyone noticed that there weren't any house elves around and that Harry and Hazel were sitting at a table loaded with food. Sirius and Peter immediately took seats and loaded their plates, shoveling food down at an alarming rate. Everyone else sat down and started eating rather more sedately than the two boys.

Hazel rolled her eyes at the boys and smirked toward Harry, "Good morning everyone, it's about time you woke up," she addressed to everyone else.

"Good morning," Amber replied. She looked around and asked, "Where are the house elves?"

"We ordered them to go get more sleep because they don't get nearly enough to replenish their magic," Hazel started.

"They tried to refuse and say they were happy to serve but we explained that if their magic wasn't replenished well by proper sleep and proper nutrition from good eating habits," Harry added.

"Then they wouldn't be able to serve as well, so they should get at least 5 hours of sleep a night and have 3 good meals with small snacks in between," Hazel took over.

"And they shouldn't punish themselves at all because it can deplete their magic and be very harmful to them. Since all this was new to them we gave them strict orders to follow our advice about sleeping and eating right and not to punish themselves no matter who told them to or what they did," Harry finished.

"You know," Lily started, "it's really kind of freaky when you two do that."

"Do what," Hazel innocently asked, exchanging a look with her brother.

"Twin talk," James answered for Lily. She nodded in agreement as did most everyone else.

Harry shrugged and said, "Well we are twins,"

"So of course we're going to know each other," Hazel added.

"Better than anyone else," Harry continued.

"And therefore finish each others sentences or thoughts from time to time," Hazel finished.

Sirius shook his head, which reminded Hazel of his dog form so she had to suppress a snicker, and said, "Yes, you will but it's hard to follow you when you do, like watching two people continuously toss a bludger back and forth when they don't have anyone else to play with."

"I would have said tennis match," Lily said.

"Yes, but they are purebloods and they don't know what tennis is, so it wouldn't make sense to them anyway," Harry rather cheekily emphasized _purebloods_ when he said this.

The next moment Professor Dumbledore came in with an elderly lady. She was sort of plump but had more laugh lines than frown wrinkles and a congenial look to her eyes. She carried a clipboard in one hand and a mug of some drink, smelled like coffee to the twins, in the other.

"Ah, good morning everyone, how are you on this fine day?" Dumbledore jovially asked.

"Wonderful after our breakfast, the house elves here really do outdo themselves Albus. You should try and see if they'll take some well deserved time off, what with all the chores they perform," Catrina said. "These two managed to get them to sleep, but not until after they made this marvelous breakfast."

Albus eyes were twinkling double time as he surveyed the two under discussion. Hazel and Harry were blushing a fair bit and squirming, he was sure it had something to do with what Catrina hadn't said, or had assumed maybe. Just then a house elf approached and tugged at Catrina's sleeve.

"Yes," Catrina acknowledged.

"I is sorry but Anlessi is not being able to keep from hearing," the young female house elf said, for the high pitched squeak and name indicated her gender to be female and age to be fairly young, for house elves that is. "The house elves is not making breakfast this morning. The young Mistress Knight Maiden and young Master Knight is not letting us. They is saying they use special herbs for breakfast meats and dishes and they teach us later. They is making breakfast themselves today."

Harold thought it wasn't possible for the two young people in question to blush any harder; their faces rather reminded him of the particular shade of red hair that Weasley's tended to sport.

"So you two are master chefs at least," the headmaster chuckled. "But, what else are you masters of, for it is unusual for a house elf to address one in such a way."

"Yes, we can cook," Hazel looked him straight in the eye as she answered him. "The title is probably because of our Elven heritage and status as Elves from an alternate universe. The castle likes us, too, so the house elves are probably acting on that as well."

The girl composed herself remarkably quickly and well, the wizened wizard noticed as she turned to the elf.

"Anlessi, thank you for cleaning up our plates, we're done eating for right now and you may continue with your normal chores. You may call us by our names, Hazel and Harry. Don't forget to get enough rest like we talked about earlier, okay."

"Yes Mistress Hazel Maiden," the little elf nodded and popped away to resume her normal chores.

Hazel and Harry both rose and Harry began this time, "We're assuming this isn't just a social meeting, sir, should we continue elsewhere or is here fine?"

"Here is fine, child," the unknown witch spoke up, not using their names because of the little she knew about Elves was that one must be given permission to call them by any part of their names.

"I am Griselda Marchbanks, from the OWLs and NEWTs testing department. Albus contacted me about your unique situation and the need for you to take your OWLs here in this universe," she continued as she took a seat at the table. The two teens waited for the headmaster to be seated as well before they resumed their seats, she noticed.

"Yes," the girl spoke, "it would be wonderful if that could be arranged, and please call me Hazel."

"Call me Harry, as well please," the boy added.

"Very well, then. Most of our supervisors for the practical portions are still around right now so we could get this done in the next few days if you like. What are your subjects?" Mrs. Marchbanks queried.

"Both of us are doing all the normal, Defense, Charms, Transfigurations, Potions, Astronomy, and Herbology, but no History of Magic. We will also both have Care of Magical Creatures, Healing, and Light Arts," Hazel answered, "I will also have Ancient Runes."

"I will have Arithmancy instead of Ancient Runes," Harry stated.

"Well, all of that seems in order," Mrs. Marchbanks said. "If you would like to get them done quickly we could do the tests for Defense, Transfigurations, Potions, Herbology, and Astronomy today and tonight for the Astronomy practical. Then we could do the rest tomorrow."

"Since it is just the two of you we could have you do the theory, then immediately do the practical, have a short break then start the next exam. Is that amenable to the two of you?"

"Sounds fine to me, objections?" Harry lightly asked his sister.

Hazel shook her head and added verbally, "No, I would like to get these tests over with. Our magic is back to normal now so that's not a problem. However, Harold, are you familiar with the spell that temporarily blocks telepathic speech between twins?"

"Yes, I am," Harold replied, "would it be advisable for today?"

"Yes, please," Harry started.

"We don't want to be accused of cheating," Hazel finished.

"If that's settled, how would you two like to start in say half an hour in the Great Hall? That should give me enough time to round up the appropriate practical supervisors," Griselda inquired.

"That is agreeable to us; shall we see you in half an hour, then?" Hazel asked as she stood to walk to the door with the testing witch.

"Certainly, I'll look forward to it," the salt and pepper haired witch answered as she walked out with the headmaster to return to his office where she could floo back to hers.

The others in the kitchen were bemused. They hadn't even gotten a chance to process that the two still rather unknown entities to them were more accomplished cooks than house elves when the conversation skipped completely to a different topic and then finished.

"That's a lot to do in one day, you know," Lily rather worriedly said, remembering how stressful the OWLs had been for her.

"Sure, but we've already taken the tests, we'll do fine," Harry rather casually replied.

"You guys can watch if you want, we don't mind," Hazel added.

* * *

Griselda Marchbanks walked into the Great Hall at 8:00 am with three of her colleagues trailing her. They all noticed that the two children being tested were already seated at desks in the middle of the Great Hall while the tables had been pushed up against the walls. The group of people that had been with the children at breakfast was sitting at one of the tables talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Alright," Griselda spoke up, "you will have the allotted two hours if you need full time, but no more. If you both finish early then we will proceed right to the practical portions. The exams will be staggered so that subjects requiring less spell casting will be between subjects requiring more. We will start with Potions."

"These are my colleagues, Mr. Ares Deniau, Master of Potions and Herbology, Mrs. Juno Gudgeon, Master of Defense and Transfigurations, and Mrs. Maeve Casey, Master of Astronomy," she briskly introduced. Turning to her colleagues she said, "These two are Hazel and Harry Potter, they are from an alternate universe, which is to be kept quiet until they wish to release that information. Until that time, they are second cousins to James Potter, the supposedly thought dead children of Matthais Potter, Harold's Uncle Apollo's son. Harold and Diana are taking them in as their parents died when they were quite young. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am," her younger colleagues replied.

"Sorry for the presumption," Griselda addressed the two elves, "but I felt you wouldn't want to tell everyone yet and the story is fairly plausible, everyone Harold's age will remember the stories in the papers about the destruction of his uncle's home and the deaths of his son, Apollo, and daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, who were twins. We can just say that everyone was mistaken about the twins' deaths, no one found their bodies anyhow."

"That's alright, as long as Mr-Harold," Hazel corrected herself at his look, "is alright with the arrangement."

"It's perfectly alright with Diana and me," Harold replied, "thank you, Griselda."

"Alright, Harold if you'll cast that spell now then we can get started."

Harry and Hazel took the especially charmed quills from Mrs. Marchbanks as soon as Harold cast the spell and a white light hit them both. They took the parchments and quickly started scratching out answers.

Forty-five minutes later, Hazel set her quill down and began reading over her answers. A few minutes later she turned her parchment over, satisfied with her answers, and leaned back in her chair. Ten minutes after she finished her brother copied her actions, checking over his own test and then leaning back and making eye contact with Mrs. Marchbanks.

"Hand me your tests and then Mr. Deniau will begin with your practical portion," Mrs. Marchbanks instructed.

"Alright, I have two potions prepared, the ingredients and instructions are listed," Mr. Deniau said. "These two boxes have all the ingredients you need. Here is the box with cauldrons in it. Stand back a moment and I will create a small area for you to heat them on."

The two teens did so and immediately started on their respective potions when their work stations were properly set up. A little over an hour later both children doused their fires, waited the specified amount of time and bottled their potions, labeling them with their name, the date, and the potion's name. Mr. Deniau took up the potions bottles and made some precursory evaluations by simply smelling the potions and testing the consistency and color. He would test the potion more fully once he returned to his lab.

"Okay, now we will do Transfigurations," Mrs. Marchbanks said.

Harry and Hazel sat back in their desks and picked up their anti-cheating quills again, beginning to answer questions as soon as the parchment was in their hands. They were finished with it in even less time than it took them to do the Potions theory.

"Alright, now for spell practical," Juno Gudgeon began, "I will give you spells to demonstrate from each year. Please use the object that I conjure to cast your spells on."

Both of them nodded and cast the spells quickly after she said them. Mrs. Gudgeon made marks on her list as she read them out and the children performed them. It took her half the time that most students take and she was astonished that they were able to perform most spells the first or second time. Professor Dumbledore and Mrs. Marchbanks had secretly asked them to test the teens on 6th and 7th year level spells, so it was very surprising that they were so easily knocking out spells they weren't even supposed to know.

After she completed the list she had them perform a few first year Auror apprentice level spells, which the two executed with ease. She was astonished and felt that she would really enjoy doing their Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) exam later in the day.

"Alright, you're finished with this exam," Mrs. Gudgeon announced as she rolled up her scroll and placed it in her pocket.

Mrs. Marchbanks stepped forward again, saying, "Okay, I propose that we do the Herbology theory now, and then break for an early lunch. We can finish up the herbology practical and the other exams for today afterwards."

"Sounds good, ma'am," Harry replied as he resumed his seat. Mrs. Marchbanks handed them the theory parchments and they began. This one took them a little longer than the others had, a little over an hour and fifteen minutes later they were both finished and the group broke for lunch.

"Any objections to remaining in the Great Hall for lunch?" Albus asked.

"No, sir," a chorus of voices arose. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore conjured a round table and chairs to place in the middle of the hall. Everyone took their seats and ordered from the choices allowed during the summer. A few minutes later everyone was contentedly tucking in to lunch and conversation with each other.

"How did you two know some of those spells?" Remus questioned. "Some of them were 6th and 7th year level."

"We learned a lot from our Elven Master," Hazel easily replied, "and she taught us during the summer, too, so it's not such a big deal that we know some higher level spells."

"Oh," Remus replied.

"Do all Elves learn more quickly from their Elven Masters than we do in school?" Lily asked.

"It depends, really," Harry thoughtfully replied. "Most Masters tailor the academic pace to their apprentice, so if their apprentice is really amazing at potions then they will advance in that very quickly, but if they have more trouble with transfigurations then that will progress more slowly."

"We've always enjoyed transfigurations, charms, and defense so we're probably really ahead in those, especially since Master Zata particularly liked those subjects as well. Every Elf learns potions up to a certain point, and a lot of herbology. Those two subjects are so considered a part of Elven lore and culture that almost any Elf will have a greater working knowledge of them than a student in school at Hogwarts," Hazel added.

Harry nodded and continued, "Learning the basics of Latin, Greek, and Ancient Gaelic are also required, so Elves generally find it easier to identify spells and what they do than children at Hogwarts, not even all the pureblood families require their children to learn the rudimentary of Latin anymore."

Mrs. Marchbanks was paying close attention to the children's conversation, as were her colleagues, so they all noticed when the other teens began to quiet down, thinking about the twins' last statement. Mrs. Marchbanks, consequently, felt it would be a good time to continue with the testing and allow what the Elven children had said to process in the others' minds. She stood and addressed the Elves, "If everyone is finished would you like to continue now?"

"Yes, ma'am, that is fine," Hazel replied and stood. Everyone took their positions from earlier.

"Okay," Mr. Deniau started, "I am going to lay out a variety of herbs, and you are to tell me what genus and species they are. Then I will get two plants, one each, that have been potted badly or not properly fed or watered, please replant them in the pots and soil provided, feed them, and water them correctly. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the children answered.

About an hour and a half later they were finished and ready to move on to the next exam, their favorite, DADA. After receiving their DADA theory parchments they immediately applied themselves to the questions and finished in nearly record time so far, only about 35 minutes after they had started.

Mrs. Gudgeon smiled and said, "I think I'm going to enjoy this."

She started with first year:

"Expelliarmus, please."

"Who should we cast it on?" Harry asked.

"Mr. Lupin and Mr. Potter," she said while looking at the two teens in the group off to the side who bore those names, "would you mind being practice targets?"

"No, ma'am," they replied and walked over to Harry and Hazel. Harry beckoned Remus to him and Hazel beckoned to James.

"Expelliarmus," both twins pronounced in a normal tone of voice, their partners' wands immediately exploded out of their partners' grips and the two deftly caught them. James and Remus were stunned when the force of the spells pushed them back several feet even though the two had spoken in normal tones, not even nearing a shout.

"Excellent," Mrs. Gudgeon replied and continued through the list. Once finished with the spells used against human opponents she started testing their ability against dark creatures.

"Alright, now is the time for boggarts," she said as she summoned two trunks that had been by the door. Hazel and Harry both paled at her words and she wondered why, they were perfectly capable of defeating them from what she had seen.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," Hazel somewhat shakily replied, "we just don't like our boggarts very much. You should probably have us do this one at a time and everyone else should stand back."

"Very far back," Harry muttered rather darkly.

"Okay, Hazel would you like to go first?" Mrs. Gudgeon questioned.

"Sure, let's just get this over with," the young girl answered, squaring herself and raising her wand in front of her.

A black robed figure rose out of the case as soon as Mrs. Gudgeon opened it. The hall began to get darker and the candles snuffed out. Juno felt cold all over and watched, horrified, as the boggart dementor advanced on the teenage girl. She could see, out of the corner of her eyes, Albus Dumbledore, Harold Potter, and a few of the other adults, standing, and wands ready to intervene. They didn't get the chance.

"Expecto Patronum," Hazel yelled, summoning every happy thought she had and putting it into the spell. A great white beast leapt from her wand. The shining beast charged the fake dementor and caused the horrible dark creature to stumble.

"Ridikulus," Hazel screamed, and the dementor's cloak turned neon green with bright orange and pink polka dots and the creature began to sing _"It's a small world, after all"_. Harry caustically laughed and stepped forward. The boggart immediately zoned in on him and changed back into a dementor.

Harry took less time to cast than Hazel, screaming, "Expecto Patronum." A great white beast leapt out of his wand and charged the fake dementor. Harry yelled out, "Ridikulus," as it stumbled and the thing was suddenly wearing scrappy rags of clothes, its arms were sticking out ahead of it and it was saying, "Zack Morris is a ten, Zack Morris is a ten," over and over again.

Hazel burst out laughing and the boggart dementor combusted, leaving nothing but ashes behind.

"Your boggart is a dementor?" Mrs. Gudgeon shakily asked.

The children nodded and Hazel said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Did you two just perform a corporeal patronus?" She asked again. When the two nodded she rather incredulously queried, "Could you do it again so that I might see what they are?"

"Sure," Hazel breathlessly replied. She lifted her wand again and cried out, "Expecto Patronum!"

A great shining white wolf bound out of her wand. She looked at it more closely and had to rather quickly sit down before her knees gave out from shock. Her patronus was not the familiar tiger she was used to, instead it was a werewolf, a very familiar looking werewolf. Hazel was eternally glad that the others were too far away to clearly see her patronus. Harry stared at the patronus and then at his sister. Mrs. Gudgeon did not appear to realize that anything was wrong.

"Oh my, a corporeal patronus at 14, it's absolutely amazing. How long have you been able to do that?"

"Since we were ten," Harry replied as he readied his own wand and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

The familiar great white stag came leaping out of his wand, and he did a double take. It wasn't the stag he expected but more a miniature horse with wings. Hazel stared at his as he had previously stared at hers. Its face and body were built like a horse but its hind legs were more slender like an antelopes and it had horns like an antelope. Its tail was a cross between an antelopes and a horse's tail as was its head.

The new patronus nuzzled him a moment before disappearing. Harry looked as bemused as Hazel felt. They had only ever heard of one reason for a person's patronus to change.

"Well," Mrs. Gudgeon began, "that was all for defense. Are you two ready to do Astronomy now?"

"Sure," Harry answered and they took their seats again. The theory portion of astronomy took them about as long as the theory for potions had.

"Instead of waiting until tonight to do the practical for your astronomy exam," Mrs. Casey explained, "I have brought a planetarium orb. Once I activate the orb it will create a dome with an image of the night sky. You are to write down the visible constellations, major stars within the constellation, and where you are in relation to the North Star. Questions?"

"No, ma'am," Hazel replied. Mrs. Casey activated the orb and the three of them were surrounded by a mini-planetarium. Harry and Hazel immediately began scratching out information on the parchments handed to them. About an hour and a half later they were both finished.

"Whew, it's been a long day, I'm ready for some dinner," Hazel said.

"Me, too," Harry added.

"We're going to head back to our offices now, everyone," Mrs. Marchbanks began. "The results should be done within the week. I will return with a few of my other colleagues for the rest of the tests tomorrow. They will be briefed on the situation and cover story before they come. I have picked all of them out as being trustworthy. Thank you for a wonderful day."

"Thank you for being willing to do this for us. You could have just made us take 5th year over again, after all," Hazel graciously replied and bowed to the woman and her colleagues. Harry followed his sister's lead and the two of them walked the visiting test officials to the doors of the Entrance Hall.

The group at Hogwarts proceeded down to the kitchens for supper. The adults were impressed with the children's knowledge, as were the other teens, and they wondered how the two knew so much.

"Why did you learn the patronus spell so young?" Diana asked them once everyone was seated at dinner. Hazel's fork stopped halfway to her mouth and she looked up at Diana. Returning her fork to her plate, she sat back and explained:

"Someone escaped from Azkaban when we were ten. Everyone thought he was trying to kill us but it turned out that he was innocent and he was trying to protect us from the man who framed him.

"The ministry posted dementors at the school gates supposedly for security. Professor Dumbledore managed to keep the dementors from being given permission to come onto the grounds but was unable to convince the minister that it was unnecessary to have them at the gates.

"On the train to school the dementors checked the train for signs of the prisoner. We had a particularly bad reaction to them and the Defense teacher, who was sharing our compartment, made them go away. We managed to convince him to teach us how to repel dementors while we were at school."

Diana nodded and then Sirius asked, "Why were you two surprised when you cast your patronus the second time?"

"Because our patronus changed," Harry said. "It is unusual for that to happen, but not entirely unheard of, especially with Elves. We know what our patronus being different indicates and while we should have expected it for Ally, it was shocking for me."

"Why?" James probed further. He could feel some reservation from both of his new 'siblings' and was curious.

Hazel looked at Harry and he nodded. She exhaled slowly and began, "A change in your patronus usually means that you have met and bonded with your soul mate. Most Elves do not learn the Patronus Charm until after they have already met their soul mate so it will always be something that represents their mate.

"Some, like us, do not meet their soul mate until after they learn the charm. When they first learn the charm the patronus will be something unique to the person, and will usually represent something or someone that makes you feel safe and protected. After meeting your soul mate, usually, your mate becomes the person that makes you feel the safest, so your patronus will reflect that by changing to something that represents your mate."

"Oh," James nodded, understanding.

"Wasn't your patronus a werewolf?" Lucas asked Hazel.

"Yes," Hazel looked the man straight in the eye as she replied, as if daring him to make a big deal of it.

"But no one here's a werewolf, at least I don't think anyone is," Lucas added.

Mr. Evans shifted and said, "What's the big deal about someone being a werewolf? If they keep themselves away from people on the night of the full moon then they're not a danger to anyone and then they're human the rest of the month, right?"

"That is quite correct," Mr. Potter began, "but there were many restrictions placed on werewolves, vampires, etc. hundreds of years ago when some of the restraining spells and warding spells were not available. During those times it was very hard for werewolves to have a safe place to transform so laws were made that forced werewolves to live apart from people and other such things. Many of the laws were extreme but there was an extreme fear of werewolves.

"The fear of werewolves was created because a few werewolves used their transformation as a way to get revenge on families they had feuds with. Many of these families pushed to have the laws made. Now, there are a few werewolves that choose to be violent even when not transformed. Those werewolves use the restrictive laws as an excuse to be angry at everyone. So the laws have not changed because the ones in power always cite the few who make a bad name for the others as being reasons strict laws are needed."

"Oh," Mr. Evans said, "I guess it's kind of like the race relations and prejudices found between a lot of blacks and whites in Muggle Britain, America, and other places."

"That's a pretty good analogy, actually," Hazel piped up, "but I don't care if my mate's a werewolf or not, doesn't really matter to me since I know that whoever he is he won't hurt me."

Lucas looked thoughtful and asked, "Does that have anything to do with your being an elf?"

"Partly," Hazel carefully replied. "We know more about werewolves than humans do, even some that are werewolves themselves as they have never bothered to find out the truth behind some of the rumors about what they are. I have the feeling that if humans knew what we did half of them would say it's proof that harsher restrictions are needed, not more lenient, and the other half would wonder why they bother with restrictions in the first place.

"Mostly, though, it's because of what I know about soul mate bonds. No matter whether my mate is a werewolf, vampire, whatever, he won't hurt me, or I should say he can't outright physically hurt me. Nor can I hurt him. We can fight verbally, sure. Also, if a situation happens where we have to hurt the other in order to save them, then we can do that."

"What sort of situation could make you hurt someone to save them?" Shamira curiously asked.

"Easy, if you got your foot trapped in something in the wild and an animal were about to attack you then you have to get your foot out before you can get away and getting your foot out will hurt. Would you take your foot hurting a bit over getting attacked? Because I certainly would," Harry answered her.

"Now, Harry and I have work to do before bed, we'll see you guys later."

And with that Hazel dragged her brother out of his chair and the two of them walked out of the room. When James got up to go see where they had headed the two were already out of sight.


	3. Animals and Rikkitikkitavi

Hey, everyone,

Here is the third chapter, hope you enjoy. I will update the next chapter either in a week or when I get ten more reviews, so if you want it before a week then review. I don't have it written yet, but I am working on it.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is all Jo's, I own only the plot, the characters you don't recognize, and the personalities of the ones that have only been mentioned in the books. "Rikki-tikki-tavi" is a story among the "Jungle Book" stories by Rudyard Kipling. I make no money from either.

* * *

"Good morning again everyone," Mrs. Marchbanks greeted everyone the next morning. She turned to her colleagues and introduced them, "this is Professor Deryn Rastrick for Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Taika Nurmi for Charms and Healing, Professor Raja Patil for Light Arts, and Professor Jera Archimedes for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Are you ready to begin testing for today?"

"Yes, ma'am," Harry and Hazel simultaneously answered.

"All right," Professor Rastrick began, "here is your Creatures theory test, as soon as you are both finished with that we will begin the practical portion out in the courtyard."

Harry and Hazel took the parchments and set down to work. An hour and a few minutes later, they set their quills down and handed in their answer sheets. Everyone followed the Creatures tester out to the courtyard where two hippogriffs, two nifflers, and two krups were tied up in the yard.

Professor Rastrick turned to the young teens and instructed, "You must correctly demonstrate that you know how to approach a hippogriff, tend to an injured krup, and feed and control a niffler for your practical. Please begin with the hippogriffs."

"That one is Sable Shanti," Deryn said as he pointed to a hippogriff with charcoal feathers gradually darkening to inky black where the horse coat began. Next, he pointed to a pale yellow feathered hippogriff with a tawny horse's coat and said, "That one is Saffron Shandar."

Hazel immediately headed towards the tawny hippogriff while Harry headed towards the dark one. Only a few minutes later, both of the teens were mounting the hippogriffs for short rides around the quidditch pitch. Deryn was gob smacked when the two hippogriffs allowed the children on them. He had chosen the two most demanding and uncooperative hippogriffs he had because he had wanted to see how good the children's skills were, especially after the talk from his colleagues who tested them the day before.

Both children immediately headed towards the krups once they landed. Professor Rastrick pointed to the blue eyed krup and said its name is Midnight while the brown eyed krup is Inky, because they both have black hair. Hazel found that Midnight had a cut along his back leg, she noticed that multiple supplies were laid out on a blanket nearby and picked out the few supplies she would need. After cleaning the cut with warm water, she placed a thin poultice of disinfectant herbs on top of the wound and snugly wrapped bandages around that. Next, she wrote out on a parchment what the treatment would be for the next few days.

Inky had a splinter in her front paw, Harry discovered, so he took tweezers and pulled it out. Then he cleaned the small wound, placed fresh medicinal herbs over it and used a special padded bandage to wrap around the foot. He also wrote out what the treatment would need to be for the next several days and handed the instructions to Professor Rastrick.

Heading towards the nifflers, Harry noticed that Hazel was still bandaging her krup. He moved towards the white niffler Rastrick told him was Sandy. Making sure that he had removed and tucked away all shiny jewelry or accessories, he removed her from her cage. Harry picked up the correct food from the choices available and fed Sandy. Then, he walked her around the courtyard twice, managing to keep her from running off and tackling the people nearby. He returned her to her cage and dumped the three broken wristwatches, one pocket watch, four bracelets, and six rings on the table.

Hazel came back with her krup, a spotted gray one called Dots, with one wristwatch, four pocket watches, five necklaces, and one bracelet. Professor Rastrick wrote down what they found and Professor Dumbledore picked the items up. The group returned to the Great Hall to continue the other tests.

The charms theory took only about twenty minutes longer than defense the previous day. Professor Nurmi began testing them with first year charms. She tested both their technique and power, having them start the "wingardium leviosa" charm on a feather and working all the way up to a large sofa. When the children accomplished that without breaking a sweat she moved on to the next charm. A little over an hour and a half later and she had exhausted the school level, Auror level, and up to 3rd year Apprentice level charms. Harry and Hazel had performed most charms on the first try and all others on the second or third. She was sure she had a wide eyed expression when she stopped the testing.

"You two are far above the level of Hogwarts students. Shoot, you are above the level of graduating Aurors and most 3rd level Charms' apprentices. Where did you learn this much? How do you do some of these charms at your age?" she queried them.

She didn't expect to receive the rather serious and regretful looks from both of them. As well as she didn't expect to receive calculated looks from the other children and thoughtful looks from a few of the Hogwarts professors who had come to watch, having been informed of the children's arrival and testing. Nor did she expect to receive a rather frustrated, menacing glare from Headmaster Dumbledore. Shivering, she turned back to the children when the boy began to answer her.

"Our Elven Master taught us many things, these are only a few. Also, you would probably be surprised to find that most children our age can perform far more than the Hogwarts curriculum asks of them. There are many reasons for this, while we can't outright tell you now, with some careful digging you could probably uncover these reasons on your own," the boy quietly informed her, carelessly flicking a nonexistent speck of dust off his shoulder. She flicked her eyes to follow the gesture and saw the headmaster in the corner of her eye. Cocking her head and nodding to the boy, she stepped back to allow the group of children to congregate around their newfound friends.

The children were rather subdued during lunchtime after the charms' exam and the adults were all rather uncomfortable. Dumbledore was slightly scowling at his plate and most of the adults were wondering at the rather odd and suspicious behavior of the headmaster. Meanwhile, Dumbledore was fuming at the fact that his ploy to accuse the children of being too ambitious to learn dangerous things had not worked and had, instead, backfired on him. Now, the testing officials were suspicious of the school's academic performance.

After lunch, Professor Patil prepared the Light Arts' written exam, which consisted of history and theory of music and art. She prepared the supplies for the practical while they were doing the written. As soon as they finished she had them do a sight reading with a recorder and then paint a still life of the flowers she brought. Lastly, she had them sculpt anything they wanted as long as it would work as a jar to hold liquid. She found that Hazel was particularly talented with the sculpting and painting while Harry was better at sight reading.

Immediately after they finished the Light arts exam they began the Healing exam. Both teens flew through the written portion and easily passed the practical which involved doing the spells on a practice dummy which would show whether the spell worked correctly and if it was too weak or too strong. They also were given descriptions of certain symptoms and told to pick out the potions they would use to treat the symptoms and explain why. Professor Nurmi felt they had done a wonderful job on their healing exam.

Professor Archimedes immediately stepped up with the Ancient Runes and Arithmancy exams. These exams were only written and included problems or translations for the children to do, as well as theory and history. They finished in about an hour and handed her back the papers.

As soon as she took the papers, Harold approached and removed the block on their bond. Harry and Hazel breathed a sigh of relief as they were able to feel the bond again.

The testing officials left with Madame Marchbanks and the adults went with the children to the kitchens to eat supper. Dumbledore had excused himself while the two were sitting their Healing exam and was nowhere to be seen. Flitwick and Madame Pomfrey had joined the teachers watching the students take their exams and were now eating with the children and exclaiming over how much the twins knew about Charms and Healing.

* * *

Finally, the teens and the parents' that were present were able to shake off the teachers and go somewhere private to talk. Harry and Hazel were leading the way, the others' were amazed that the two were so knowledgeable of Hogwarts secret passages especially since most of them had never found so many.

Eventually they made it to a blank area of stone in a corridor that had no tapestries, statues, suits of armor, or portraits. The stone in this area was also a mix of dark reds, blacks, dark purple, dark green and dark blue with specks and highlights of gold, silver, and bronze. Harry and Hazel placed their right palms on two bricks side by side near the middle of the hallway. Quietly, they whispered something and the wall opened up much like the archway in Diagon Alley. Harry entered first and Hazel motioned for the others to enter before her. As soon as Hazel entered, the wall closed up behind her.

The room they walked into was a light gray stone with medium honey hardwood floor and a couple of large, plush, dark purple area rugs. The few chairs, loveseats, and sofas were varying shades of purple with medium gray and white pillows. Eight throw blankets were scattered on the furniture, each one done in pairings of the house colors and the extra four depicting the Founders' themselves. Bookshelves, which were packed with books, flanked either side of the fireplace. Two doors were on the wall left of the entrance door and three doors were on the wall right of the entrance. Four portraits hung above the large fireplace, which was made of white brick, directly across from the entrance door.

Harry and Hazel waited for the others to finish perusing the room and notice just _who_ the portraits were of. They didn't have to wait long. Diana was the first to notice the portraits and did a double take when she realized who they were.

"Are those the Founders!" Diana disbelievingly asked.

"Of course we are the Founders," the man in the wine red robes with golden trim answered her. "Who else would we be, this is our chamber after all."

"Hush, Godric. She obviously didn't know. I imagine that the only two who knew were the twins standing there." This came from a lady with auburn hair and butter yellow robes.

"Good evening everyone," the lady in yellow addressed the group. "Forgive my companion; he doesn't always remember that most people have never seen a Wizarding portrait of us before. I am Lady Helga Hufflepuff, these are my companions, Lord Godric Gryffindor (she indicated the man in wine red robes), Lord Salazar Slytherin, and Lady Rowena Ravenclaw. May I inquire as to your names?"

"Certainly," Hazel answered as she stepped closer to the portraits, along with her brother. "I am Hazel Potter, and this is my brother, Harry Potter. We are from the realm of White Earth. These are our companions, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Dubhe, Lily Evans, Aria Caelistis, and Shamira Aren; and some of their parents Harold and Diana Potter, John and Amber Lupin, Lucas and Catrina Dubhe, and Darach Evans."

"Harry and I thought we might use the chamber for tonight and possibly longer, in order to escape the Bee's spying. Would you grant us permission to remain here, my Lords and Ladies?"

"Permission to remain in, use, and return to these rooms is granted to the two of you forevermore," Godric began, "permission is granted to your companions so long as the two of you allow."

"My thanks, Lord Gryffindor," Hazel bowed slightly.

"Tsk, tsk, now that the formalities are out of the way call us Rowena, Godric, Helga, and Salazar, dears," Rowena, who wore dark blue robes, admonished.

"Yes, Rowena," Harry laughed. "We would talk longer with you four now but I wish to wait for the others before we get into the myriad of things that Hazel and I need to tell the others. So, we are probably just going to play games or some such tonight."

"Actually," Hazel wheedled, "The others we wish to be should be here in a few days but that doesn't mean we can't start working on something now. So, I was wondering if you lot wanted to find out what Animagi forms you have and begin to read up on how to become Animagi?"

"You two are Animagi?" John asked.

Harry replied, "Yes, we are Animagi, I am a Forest Raven and Hazel is a Merlin Falcon."

"So, would you?" Hazel queried.

"Oh, yes, certainly," Diana spoke up, "I've always wanted to know what kind of animal I would be. How do we do this?"

"It's a spell that was invented in our world in the 1980's, but since we know it," Harry began.

Hazel continued, "and it isn't that hard."

"We will cast it," Harry finished. "Now, whoever wants to go first step up here and stand in the middle of the school crest emblem, which is on the floor."

Diana stood up and walked onto the crest. Harry stood to the north while Hazel stood to the east and he began to chant, "Invenio animus bestia, invenio animus bestia, invenio animus bestia," with his wand pointed at the ceiling above Diana's head.

Hazel immediately began to chant, "Solvo animus bestia, solvo animus bestia, solvo animus bestia," as Harry began to say bestia the third time. Her wand was pointed at the floor below Diana.

As Hazel began to say bestia the third time, Harry began to chant, "Ostendo animus bestia, ostendo animus bestia, ostendo animus bestia."

"Mutatio in animus bestia, mutatio in animus bestia, mutatio in animus bestia," Hazel chanted before both of them chanted together, "Invenio animus bestia, solvo animus bestia, ostendo animus bestia, mutatio in animus bestia."

Mist began to form around Diana as the completed the full chant the third time. As it cleared the others saw, instead of Diana, a type of cat sitting there. Most realized that is was a mix between a domesticated cat and a type of wild cat, but were not sure what type. Only a few seconds later, Diana was standing, staring at everyone.

"Well, what am I?" she asked.

Hazel smiled and said, "You are a cat, a mix between a bobcat and a Persian."

"Next," Harry stated.

Harold got up and stood where his wife had, facing Harry. Harry and Hazel did the chant the same as before and the mist engulfed Harold. A magnificent black jaguar with hazel eyes and ashy gray claws greeted them as the mist cleared. Everyone was stunned as Harold turned back into himself.

Harold saw Harry grinning like the cat the caught the canary and was immediately cautious, he guardedly asked, "So, what was I?"

"You're a black panther," he heard his wife say in an awed voice.

"Actually," Harry began, "there is no such thing as a black panther, that is just the common name used for one of three different types of cats that can have melanism, an abundance of the black skin pigment, melanin. The different types of cats that this happens in are jaguars, leopards, and pumas. You, sir, are a black jaguar."

"And jaguars happen to be some of the strongest cats alive, tough buggers, they are," Hazel added.

Lily decided to go next and a white tiger with her trademark piercing green eyes peered out at them as the mist cleared.

"Well, what am I?" she rather impatiently asked.

"You're a white tiger, you're gorgeous," James breathed, and promptly brushed to the tips of his hair.

Darach stepped up and asked, "I know I am a Muggle, but is it possible for me to have an Animagi form?"

"It's Animagus when singular," Hazel distractedly replied as she seemed to look at him but not focus on him, "and you are half Elven, so yes you can, and we can find out what it is now, but we'll have to unlock your Elven heritage before you can turn into it."

"That sounds good, I'd like to see what I'll be," Darach Evans said as he stepped into the crest. The chant was repeated again and a magnificent lion with bright emerald eyes and golden claws emerged from the mist.

Hazel, Harry, Lily, Aria, and Shamira were especially stunned. Aria, however, was the one to voice what all of them were thinking as Darach became human again.

"Aslan," she whispered, awed, and he turned to see her. He smiled when he realized what that must mean.

He asked them, "So, I'm a lion, then, huh?"

"Yes," Harry quietly answered.

Shamira decided to go next and an arctic fox appeared from the fog that surrounded her.

"You're an arctic fox," Hazel informed her before she could ask. She nodded and sat back down.

Aria got up and took the spot on the crest. A mongoose popped up from the mist and Hazel laughed, saying, "It's Rikki-tikki-tavi."

Lily frowned and said, "Who's Rikki-tikki-tavi, and what is she? I've never seen an animal like that before."

"She's a mongoose," Harry said, because Hazel was to busy staring at Lily.

"You're a Muggleborn and you don't know who Rikki-tikki-tavi is?" Hazel exclaimed. When Lily shook her head and the others there whom knew about different Muggle things also shook their heads. "Oh my, you lot are deprived," Hazel stated. "We'll just have to have story time tonight after we finish the Animagus stuff. You can't go on not knowing who Rikki-tikki-tavi is. What do you think, Shay?"

"I think that sounds fine," Harry answered, "Now, let's get on with this, shall we, Aure?"

She nodded as John came up to them.

"An orange tabby," Hazel said.

Harry added, "That could be useful for spying. No one would think twice about an orange tabby after all."

Amber went next.

"An otter," Harry smiled at her.

"You're cute, deer," John grinned at her. She lightly slapped his arm and proclaimed, in a baby voice, "Well, at least I'm not such an itty bitty, cutie wootie, kitty cat."

Catrina chuckled at the pair as she walked up to the crest.

"You're a gold finch, honey," her husband told her as she stepped out of the crest and he stepped in.

She smiled at him when he resumed human form and said, "You're a greyhound, love. No wonder you can run so quickly."

Harold smiled and then looked at the boys and said, "So, who's next? You are the only ones left and I would have thought you would be clamoring to be the first to find out what you are."

All four of the boys shifted and gave them a piercing look.

"Why do you think we wanted to do this, guys?" He asked. "You need to tell them what you did; we don't plan on having anyone we teach register as that would defeat the purpose of having a surprise way to get out of tight situations. Those of you that are part Elven don't have to by law anyway, and the rest of you can claim another reason that is a lawful reason, to not register. We'll get into more discussion of that later on, though, as there are some other things you need to learn before we start on that."

"Right now, however, you three need to tell them what you learned, what you did for Remus," Hazel gently prodded.

"Okay," James began. "You see, Dad, we found out Remus was a werewolf in first year, near the end of the year. We didn't confront him until second year, because we wanted to have some sort of plan for something to do to help him. What we found out was that werewolves will hurt humans, but not other animals, unless it is an animal that is natural prey for wolves. So, we decided we would become Animagi."

"James Tiberius Potter," Diana exclaimed, James winced. Harry, Hazel, Lily, Darach, Aria, and Shamira snorted, trying to hold back snickers. The others looked at them funny. Diana, however, took no notice, "of all of the harebrained ideas you have, that could have—you could have been seriously hurt, all three of you, well four, since I'm assuming Severus did this as well."

James nodded and his mom continued, "So much could have gone wrong, but it didn't, did it?"

James shook his head.

"And you're all fine now?" his mother asked.

James nodded, confused.

"Then, I'm proud of you," she said. Diana sat down by him and looked at Sirius and Peter before continuing, "That was a very brave thing that you did and a wonderful way to help your friend. Now, I think I speak for all of us when I say, well go on show us what you are."

Sirius laughed at his buddy's dumbfounded look and stood up, the next second there was a huge, grim-like black dog sitting there.

Shamira gasped, and said, "Well, it's a good thing none of us are quite the type to believe that vein of divination garbage, isn't it? My goodness, you are a very large dog, Mr. Black."

"We should have seen that coming, his name even fits his form," Lily said. "Sirius, the dog star, and his last name is black. Besides, a dog certainly fits your personality and that's what Animagus forms are supposed to be mainly derived from, right?"

"Yes, very much so," Hazel said, "that is why people can have Animagi forms that are not native to their country, or that the person has never heard of before. Aria, for instance, do you know what a mongoose is?"

"No, not really," she answered.

"Well, not now, but that is your Animagus form. There are two ways to be able to become your Animagus form. We're going to do the second way, which means researching your animals and crafting the spells to fit you and your animal. The spells are paired with a potion course which allows you to adopt the shape of your animal form multiple times throughout your life without messing up your physical human form. The spells help to keep you from losing your mind to the animal's mind."

"The first way," Harry took over, "is just one potion and a generic spell. The problems with this first way are that the potion must be retaken every ten years, some of the ingredients are common allergies for some people, and the spell must be recited every time a person wants to change. Having to say the spell every time increases the amount of time it takes for you to changes and, thus, decreases your chances for getting away, etc. Judging from Sirius's quick change, you guys chose the second way didn't you?"

"Yes, we did," James replied. "Here, Peter and I will show you what we are now."

James got up and went over to an open area of the room with plenty of space above him and changed into the great white stag. Harry and Hazel looked on in amazement; they had never actually seen Prongs before and didn't realize he was that large. They stepped up to him and began to rub his muzzle and flank, before they realized what they were doing and stepped back, faces flushed. James changed back and looked at them.

"It's okay," he said to them, "you've probably never seen Prongs before, have you?"

"No, not really," Harry responded.

Peter then turned into a furry white ferret and climbed up Hazel's side to perch on her shoulder. She laughed, picked him up, and plopped him onto Shamira's lap, because she was laughing as well. Shamira began to pet him and Peter chattered at her.

Hazel turned to Remus and said, "Come on, let's find out what your form will be, mister big bad wolf?"

"Um, Hazel," Remus started, "I'm a werewolf, I don't have a form."

"I don't know who you've been learning about werewolves from, but you are not a werewolf," Hazel calmly informed him. When he went to protest, she held up her hand, "You are a Great Were with a wolf form, there is a difference. Since you were told you were a werewolf that would explain why you never allowed yourself to merge with the wolf. Well, before this next full moon, you will find out as much as possible about the difference between Great Weres and modern day Lycanthropes, and next full moon you will merge with the wolf. Right now, you will find out what your Animagus form will be, and as soon as you merge with the wolf you will start learning how to become your Animagus form, understand?"

He could only nod and take his spot on the crest. The mist gathered around him then disappeared and he peered out at the others to see them in shades of grey. He was lower than they were and his senses of smell, hearing, and sight were greatly magnified, but especially his sense of smell. The next second he was human again and he could hear James, Peter, and Sirius laughing. He vaguely wondered why but was more fixated with Hazel, who was in front of him, smiling.

"You're a silvery gray European Wolf," Hazel said.

"And now that we're done checking out what everyone could be we could have story time. It is almost time for bed anyway. What do you think, Aure, den tonight?" Harry asked.

"Sounds good, I'll go find the book and you can explain what den is to the others and set it up," Hazel replied.

Harry nodded and turned back to the group, "In our old world our group of friends and our guardians/parents called themselves a pack. Because we were really organized more like a pack. There were four adult couples and more than ten children. We all lived in this huge mansion that had separate wings for each family, and separate rooms for everyone, but on special occasions or when someone had recurring nightmares we would den. There was this one huge sitting room and we would move the furniture to the sides, levitate all the mattresses with sheets intact into the room, collapse onto the beds and sleep as large group. We called those nights den nights. Tonight we want to den, so help me get the mattresses and things from the rooms, okay?"

"All right," James replied and made his way to one of the doors out of the place.

About half an hour later, Hazel came back in to see everyone getting the mattresses situated and then getting small drinks of hot chocolate or water. She also noticed that everyone was already in pajamas and realized that she and Harry had still not gotten any clothes besides the ones from the vault. She used a spell to switch the clothes she had on with a pair of old under breeches and a chemise. She was glad she had picked those out even though she hadn't thought she would ever wear them, but they were the most modest things she could wear for pajamas at the moment.

"Okay, everyone, I see we're all ready. Let's start."

Hazel opened the book and cast a spell that would project the illustrations above the book so that everyone could see them.

"This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought single-handed . . ."

Harry had to admit that his sister was marvelous at the little voice changes that turned reading a book into story time complete with characters coming to life. She was spinning the tale like she had been the one to write it, and the others were eating it up, completely unconcerned with the fact that they were all "too old" for story time.

". . . garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth, and jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls."

Hazel closed the book and looked up at the others. "That is who Rikki-tikki-tavi is, and I think I have some nicknames for a few of you now."

"Ohh, let's hear them, come on, I want to know," Aria whined.

"Well, Tavi for you, from this story, Cicle like an Icecicle for Lily, Pacer for Lucas, and Snidget for Catrina. Have you thought of any for the others, Harry?"

"I have," Harry nodded, "and those sound good, I like them. Let's see, Sassy, for Diana; Midnight for Harold, Flake for Shamira, and I think Aria had it with Aslan for Darach."

"That sounds good," Hazel agreed.

"Do you guys already have nicknames?" Harry asked James.

"Yes, I'm Prongs, Sirius is Padfoot, Peter is Chit, Remus is Moony, and Severus is Coal. Do you two have nicknames?"

"Harry is Shadow, or Shay, I'm Aure which is from Aurelia," Hazel replied.

"Among others," Harry added. Hazel gave him a "so-what" look and plopped down on the mattresses.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but it is late and we have an early day tomorrow if you want to start on learning what you need to for the Animagus transformation. Let's turn out the lights and get some sleep."

She said _Nox_ before anyone could protest and the room was plunged into darkness. Soft snores could be heard a few minutes later and none of the people asleep on the floor noticed that the Founders were huddled in Godric's portrait having a fierce discussion about the group who had come into the chambers of the Founders, which had lain untouched for hundreds of years before their entrance.


	4. More people, lesson plans

Hi everyone,

Here's the fourth chapter. Sorry that it is a day late, I will always do my best to update each week. Please review. The only things set in stone are the pairings and the animagi forms I would love feedback about what you want to see.

Disclaimer: Rowling owns everything Harry Potter, I've borrowed some ideas and characters from Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, I will be giving them back once finished. Everything and everyone you don't recognize is mine.

Enjoy!

* * *

**July 4, 1975**

The day dawned bright and early. In the Founders' Chambers, the adults were just beginning to stir. They were surprised to see that none of the teens were in the room. Delicious aromas were wafting their way from one of the hallways. Following the smells, they made their way to the kitchen. All of the adults were surprised to see that Harry and Hazel were teaching the other teens how to cook, although it appeared they had banned Peter, Remus, and Lily from helping as those three were sitting at the table.

"Well, it sure is a surprise to see my son helping with breakfast and not burning anything," Diana said.

Harry threw her a smile and replied, "A welcome surprise, I hope."

"Very welcome," she rejoined, "if he learns something about cooking from you then he can't get out of it at home."

Everyone laughed at that, even James.

"He's actually a very good cook," Hazel praised.

"Most of them are," Harry added. "They had just never tried before."

"And what about those three?" Darach asked, indicating his daughter, Remus, and Peter. The three of them looked a little embarrassed.

"Within five minutes of being in the kitchen, Lily managed to burn the toast so it was unrecognizable as bread, Peter managed to make fresh squeezed orange juice taste like some weird mix of lemon juice and polyjuice potion, and Remus managed to make the scrambled eggs blow up. Therefore, I am never letting them make anything for me, and will most certainly _not_ be allowing them near any potions ever again," Harry explained to the adults, much to their amusement and the children's further embarrassment.

"We didn't mean to," Peter pouted.

"No, you didn't," Hazel said, "but you just aren't suited to cook or make potions. I bet you lot had an awful time in potions and that none of the three of you are continuing this year?"

She looked at them as each of them nodded. Then she continued, "The reason why I am pretty sure about that is your display today. Sometimes a person's magic is more suited to one type of magic than another. Lily, you have probably heard some people in the Muggle world describe good cooking as a magic or art of itself," Lily nodded even though Hazel wasn't looking at her. "Well, that is partially true, cooking and potions both use some of one's magic. They are about the only magical thing that Muggles can do, because it flows straight from your hands to the food or ingredients that you handle. Occasionally, some people will have magic that is just unsuited for that type of close contact with what you are fixing and it will cause interesting, useless, and potentially dangerous results."

"Some people think that reaction happens when one's soul mate is over suited to the subject, to the point the soul mate has an almost phenomenal talent at it," Harry inserted. "That reason is why it does not surprise me one bit that Remus is horrible at cooking and potions. My sister is exceptionally good at both, so I expected that. I didn't expect that James would have that talent just lurking inside, waiting to get out, but he most certainly does. Must be where we get it from, our mom couldn't cook at all, burnt everything she tried to do."

"Yeah, you remember when she tried to cook something for our birthday?" Hazel laughingly asked her brother.

He gave her one of those "of-course" looks and laughed as well, "The whole house was filled with smoke and there was a small fire in the kitchen sink. Funniest thing was, the water was running, and Mom still managed to set a fire in the sink. It was put out a few seconds later, though. I thought Dad was going to blow up, his face was so red from withholding his laughter."

Everybody in the room started laughing at that, amused that these two could cook so well when their mother could not. The teens finished breakfast and levitated everything onto the table. There was little talk as everyone tucked into the delicious food.

"Alright everyone, let's get to the library and start looking up your animals," Harry proclaimed as he stood from the table. Everyone got up and followed the two into the library. They were amazed, the library in these chambers had to be about 10 times the size of the regular library, and it was full to the brim.

"In the Founders' time, a library-gallery combination was built in Pisa, Italy. Most of you may know of it, actually," Harry paused here and looked at the group. All of the adults, except Darach, and half of the children nodded their heads. Harry explained further for the ones unfamiliar with this library. "Many wizards and witches had to live underground, literally, to escape from persecution or exile. Pisa was a big center for transportation, with it being at the mouth of a river, so it was the perfect place to build an underground city for magical beings. Many Muggles in the more populated areas called magical beings Gypsies, so those of you who are big on Muggle history may recognize where the stories of Gypsies living underground come from. One of the first libraries, schools, and ministries of magic were formed in the Underground Pisa."

"All of these underground buildings are part of the reason why most of Muggle Pisa is still level. The ground closer to the top was quite unstable and the magical buildings underground have stabilized the ground above them. The Leaning Tower is half on top of a magical building and half off, thus the side that is off is sinking because there is not much support under it."

"These chambers were some of the very first rooms the Founders' modified in the castle; because they literally did find the castle, not build it. It was a castle that had belonged to Salazar and Helga's ancestors. The Founders modified many parts of it and added a few floors and towers onto it, but they didn't build it. This library was one of the first rooms they remodeled, upon Rowena's insistence. She knew of the library in Pisa, which was run by a cousin of hers, and she had the two libraries linked. A copy of any book that was and is put into the Pisa Library will be put into this library," Harry finished explaining.

"Wow," Lily breathed. There were more books in this library than she had ever seen in her life.

Hazel smiled and led everyone to a table on the left side of the door. A large book was perched on a podium beside the table, both of which were a light maple wood. She opened the book to the first page and placed her right hand on it, saying, and "White tigers."

A list began to appear on the page. She turned to the others and clarified, "This is an index book. You simply put your hand on the first page and state the topic you want to research, the index will then list any book in the library that even mentions the topic you state, give a summary of the book, give the book's publish date, and the book's author. You can tap titles once to select them and twice to deselect. When you get done selecting the books you want, you close the index and the books will appear on the table."

"There are trolleys around the room which can be used to store books you are not finished looking at, and the table on the other side of the door will send the book back to its shelf," Harry added.

"The sections are divided up by topic and topics that relate to each other are grouped together. To find a section you can put your hand on the podium itself and state the topic, a sign will appear above that section," Hazel added, then she demonstrated by putting her hand on the podium and saying, "Animals."

A large, bright blue sign appeared over a section to the far left of the room. Harry suggested to the group, "You lot might want to begin looking in that section for books on your animals, it may take Lily a while to read through the list in the index and pick out books. Lily, please let us know when you are done so the next person can use the index."

Lily nodded and began to read through the list. There were quite a number of books that mentioned white tigers. About fifteen minutes later she had selected about fifteen books and gotten through the F's in the index. Deciding that was enough to begin with, she closed the book and watched, dazed, as the books appeared on the table.

"I'm finished," she yelled out and her dad ambled over from the Animal section, already carrying 3 books, to use the index. She moved over to a sitting area with comfortable sofas, armchairs, and loveseats grouped with tables to form a study area. Harry and Hazel were already sitting in this area with a stack of books each.

Only the sound of flipping pages and scratching quills on parchment was heard for a few hours. Finally, Sirius closed the book he had been reading and announced, "I'm hungry, it's 12:00 and the other teachers are probably wondering where we are by now. Let's go to lunch."

Harold raised his head from the book he was buried in and nodded, agreeing. The rest of the group began to close up the books they were reading and organize their parchments, placing them on the tables.

The kids were talking about how they were excited to learn how to become Animagi while the adults chatted about various things on the way to the Great Hall. Minerva McGonagall and Argus Filch were the only people in the Hall as the group ambled in. Argus barely glanced at the children, scowling at his plate. He gave an almost imperceptible flick of his fingers in the direction of Harry and Hazel. They acknowledged it by tapping once on the table as they sat down. Minerva simply gave a curt nod to everyone, eyeing the two teens she had watched take the OWLs.

"How is everyone this morning?" Minerva queried. A chorus of "Fine", "Alright", and "Just peachy" answered her.

"How are you, Minerva, Argus?" Harold asked.

Argus glanced at him, but didn't reply. Minerva shook her head and responded, "I am just fine this morning. It is a beautiful day and all of my work is caught up with. I was going to spend the day enjoying the outdoors. What are you lot going to do today?"

"We're working on a project. Also, some more friends of ours will probably show up today and we'll begin the explanations of our pasts. You are both welcome to join us," Hazel informed, the upward lilt of her last words let them know she was asking a question.

Minerva's curiosity was already brimming over. She wanted to know more about these two children. Minerva nodded and saw from the corner of her eye that Argus was as well, which surprised her. _Oh well,_ she thought, _he is probably curious as well, and I shouldn't put so much stock in the student's gossip. I don't know much about Argus, but, then, nor do I know much about many of the other staff. And the staff doesn't know a lot about me._

Just as lunch finished, a group entered the doors to the hall.

"Granda," Hazel yelled, running to the sandy haired man. He smiled, picked her up, and swung her around.

"How're you, squirt?" He asked her as she scrambled around to be on his back, piggy-back style.

"I'm good, I'm so glad that we finally get to meet you in flesh and not just our dreams," she told him. As she was greeting him her brother greeted the other three adults with him. Hazel then noticed that a few children were with them, all of which were around eleven or twelve.

"Hello," she said to the three children, "I'm Hazel, that's my brother Harry."

"I'm Ryan," the only boy began, "this is my twin sister Rhiannon, and our friend Sarah. Remus is our older brother, and Peter is hers. How do you know my granddad and his friends?"

One of the ladies then stepped in and said, "Ryan, remember how I can visit you in your dreams and make a dream place where Edmund, Peter, and can visit with you, too. I have done the same thing with the two of them many, many times."

"Hello, Granddad," Harold murmured to the one holding Hazel, giving the man a questioning look. The sandy-haired man simply gave him a quelling look and turned to the two people he didn't know.

"Hello, I am Peter Pevensie, this is my brother, Edmund (he indicated the dark haired man), our sister, Lucy (indicating the auburn haired lady), and a friend of ours, Joethe Niphredil (the brown haired lady). May I inquire as to your names?"

"Certainly, I am Minerva McGonagall," Minerva stood and took his hand. He pulled her hand up and lightly kissed her knuckles, she blushed, unused to this courtesy. Argus stood next to her and extended his hand, "Argus Filch, Lord Master Potter, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Peter grasped his hand firmly, looking him straight in the eye, and replied, "It is reciprocated, Master Filch."

Edmund spoke up then, "Come on, everyone, there is a lot to talk about in a very short amount of time. Let's head somewhere a little more private."

The now expanded group made their way back to the Founders' Chamber.

"Ah," Diana half-screamed when she looked up upon entering the chamber. Harry swung his head around and smiled. Their friends had just made it to the chamber.

"Hey Nev, I see you got everybody. By chance, where did you and Mione' land?" he greeted the tall, sandy brown haired young man with warm chocolate eyes.

Nev grinned at him and replied, "Yep, everybody is accounted for and then some apparently," he gestured towards the three younger children and the four adults with them. "Mione' and I actually ended up in my grandparent's house. It took a little bit to convince them that we absolutely needed to bring the three of them."

Harry turned his attention to the three teens Nev had indicated. He smiled at them and held his hand out to the young lady, "Good afternoon, I am Harry Potter. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, be welcome here at the Founders' Chambers."

The young lady raised an eyebrow and took his hand, replying, "My name is Narcissa Black. The pleasure is certainly reciprocated, your hospitality is refreshing, and I shall be delighted to discover the depths of the Founders' Chambers."

He took her hand and made a slight bow to her, lifting her hand up to press a kiss to her first two knuckles. She smiled and made an approving sound in her throat as he lowered and released her hand, still bowed. She sketched a curtsy to him and he rose.

He quickly introduced himself to the two boys and proceeded to introduce his sister. Hazel then introduced him to Aeneas, Augusta, and Frank Longbottom and Alice Dahlia. She had introduced herself to them while he was introducing himself to Narcissa. Hazel then said, "Okay, is there anyone else who doesn't know who someone here is, besides those two?" she pointed to Nev and Mione'.

"Who are they?" Mione' asked, indicating the four Elvish looking adults and the three younger children. Harry and Hazel immediately gained matching impish expressions.

"This is my great-great-grandfather, Peter Pevensie, his brother Edmund, sister Lucy, and friend Joethe," Hazel smugly told her. Mione' looked surprised.

"Told you they were real," Harry proudly added. Then he turned to the children and said, "These three are Ryan and Rhiannon Lupin and Sarah Dubhe."

"I didn't know Remus had younger siblings," Nev stated.

"We did, but we never met them," Hazel told him.

"Alright everyone," Hazel addressed the group, "these are two of our friends, they are also from our world. Their names are Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Nev, Mione, this is everyone. Harold and Diana Potter, there; John and Amber Lupin; Lucas and Catrina Dubhe; Darach Evans; Peter Dubhe; and I believe you have already figured out the others."

"Yep, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Lily Evans," Hermione replied. "It is a pleasure to meet everyone. Please don't call me Mione, the only reason these three can get away with it is because they can all beat me in a magical fight. I highly doubt that the same can be said for most of you, except for some of the adults."

"Cocky, much," she heard Sirius mutter.

"No, she's just confident in herself, and probably quite correct. I doubt that most of you are anywhere near the fighting level of the four of us or Granddad and his friends, and possibly Mr. Filch," Hazel breezily replied to him. "We have all trained under Elves and Elves hold a much higher standard for their fighters than most humans, especially the British pureblood and Aurors. Crying shame, what they call good."

"Too true, young lady, too true," Argus added. "I grew up in Greece and the standards of the British pureblood, and thus most of the British people in powerful positions in any part of British wizardry life, are disgraceful. My father traveled quite a bit and I always went with him. Out of the places we visited, I must say that the American wizards and Australian wizards hold themselves to much higher standards than any other place we went to."

"Those two are probably the two cultures most Elves would pick out as actually having high standards and producing true witches and wizards, not people who play around with magic," Edmund agreed. "Although the Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese are all hard workers and their Muggle schools are considered to be better than American schools. Their Wizarding cultures are not nearly as advanced in schooling as their Muggle cultures and their wizards tend to be spread apart with no way to find out who other wizards are and where other wizards are. That situation makes it hard for them to receive training in the magical arts besides what their families or other wizards in their neighborhoods/villages can teach them."

"Yes, if they had a system where they could find all the magical children in their country and bring them to a school then they would probably be on par with America and Australia," Joethe added. "It is ironic that the situation is opposite in America. Their Wizarding culture seems to be much more advanced in schooling than their Muggle culture, except for some of the Muggle private schools, which still hold high standards of education."

"Okay, okay, right now we need to talk about training and living groups and all of that," Hazel cut in. "We can discuss about standards and which Muggle or Wizarding cultures have gone completely downhill later. Now, the first thing I want everyone to be able to do is change to their animal form. Granddad, are your spouses coming soon?"

"Yes, they are, Belle will probably bring her apprentice with her," Peter answered.

"When will they get here?"

"Tomorrow morning, most likely."

"Okay, then tomorrow will be devoted to telling you lot about our pasts. And most likely the next day as well," Hazel said. "Today, those of you who already know what your animal forms may continue with research, we just had you finding books with good information on your animals this morning. This afternoon, I want you to focus on finding out as much about the animals' habitats, behavior, folklore, physical traits, and diets as possible; with your focus mostly on folklore, behavior and diets."

"Those of you who are already Animagi," Harry began, "will begin to read about Elves this afternoon. A suggestion for a quick way to go over a lot of information is to divide up the topics; the main topics you want to learn about now are the social, political, and physical aspects. My sister and I have already amassed a large amount of very informative and trustworthy books on each subject. Those books are in one of the study rooms off of the library. Is there anyone besides Ms. McGonagall, Mr. Filch, Severus, Sirius, Peter-we might have to start calling you by your nickname since there are two of you-, and James who are Animagi? Besides you four, Granddad."

"As you probably know, our spouses are and my wife's apprentice is as well," Peter Pevensie said.

Harry turned to Aeneas Longbottom, his wife Augusta, son Frank, and Frank's girlfriend Alice. They all shook their heads 'no'.

"Okay," Hazel began, "you six can go on to the study room and begin then. Zander."

An older house-elf appeared, this one was wearing an outfit that looked somewhat like an overall except that it more closely resembled a tunic that was too long for him. It was a vibrant purple with white trim and the Hogwarts crest on the right breast. He bowed to her and said, "Yes, Mistress Knight Hazel, how may Zander help you?"

"Please show these six to the first study room in the library and provide them with a tray of snacks and some refilling carafes of juice."

"Yes Mistress, Zander will do so right now. Right this way, Sirs and Madam."

"Thank you, Zander," Hazel called as the elf led the group to the library; he acknowledged her call with a brief nod.

She turned back to the others and said, "Well, those of you who know your forms should get to the table in the library that we were all studying around earlier and continue to study."

The rest of the group who had been there during the morning quickly made their way to the library. Peter looked amused that his grandson was so quickly obeying his great-great-granddaughter. _Let it never be said that she isn't capable of being in charge_, he thought.

"Okay, what about us?" Augusta queried, also looking slightly amused that none of the adults had protested.

"We're going to find out what forms you will become. Our world is about 20 years ahead of this one and there is a spell that we know which will allow us to find your forms. Then we will show you how to use the library and you can join the other group that is founding out information about their forms."

"Would you wish to be first?" Hazel asked, a challenge implied in her demeanor and wording, if not in her tone of voice.

"Certainly," _challenge accepted_, Augusta stepped forward, _and a bit of respect earned for myself_.

Hazel gave her a quick smile and directed, "Stand in the center of the crest on the floor. Yes, just there."

This time, Hazel stood to the North and Harry to the East, so that she would begin the chant. As the mist cleared from Augusta, the others saw a beautiful black swan standing on the crest. Augusta was herself again the next moment and looking curiously at the others.

"You are a Black Swan," Harry informed her. "Who's next?"

Frank stepped up and onto the center of the crest. When he emerged from the mist he noticed that Hazel looked like she had taken quite a number of steps back. As he changed back into himself he realized that she had, indeed, moved away from him. She explained by telling him what he was, "A thoroughbred horse, the breed. You are very big."

He smiled and stepped back, noticing that Sarah was stepping up next.

"You're a porcupine, Sarah. That is so cool," Ryan told her as she became herself again. "You can stick people when you get mad at them."

"She can actually throw the quills at someone, as well," Harry added. Sarah looked intrigued by that fact.

Aeneas stepped up next and when he was finished his wife laughingly informed that he was, "A howler monkey, it's perfect for you."

He scowled at her, "Are you implying that I am loud?"

The children were valiantly trying not to laugh and the other four adults appeared to be trying to maintain neutral expressions.

"Well, there was that one night that you were listening to the Bats game on the Wireless and your yell broke through the silencing charm on the room. The next morning a group of centaurs, who live about a ¾ day's walk into the woods around our house, sent me a message asking me to please renew and strengthen the silencing wards around the property. From the wording of the letter, I believe that had a very different idea about what was going on?" His wife raised a very suggestive eyebrow at him and he blushed hotly.

That caused the others to lose their resolve and they dissolved into laughter. Once everyone had gotten themselves under control, Alice walked up to the crest for her turn.

"You're a Shetland Pony," Frank smiled at her. She joined him on the couch he was sitting at.

Ryan went next.

"You're a Coyote," Rhiannon said, "cool."

She went next and her twin quickly informed her that she was, "A fox."

"Actually, I think she's a Red Wolf, they look a bit like foxes but aren't," Hazel said.

Rhiannon sat down and Narcissa went next. When Narcissa changed back into herself she saw that everyone looked a bit awed and that Harry was giving her a piercing look. Harry was the one to finally tell her what she was.

"You're an Impa Pegasus," he told her, "they're a type of flying horse that is more common in Elven areas. They look a bit like a cross between Arabian horses and Antelopes, with wings. It is also smaller than either the horse or the antelope."

She nodded and sat down. Regulus was last to go and Rhiannon was the one to inform, between gasps of laughter, that he was "A bat."

"A Livingstone Fruit Bat, if I'm not mistaken," Harry said. "That's the largest known variety of bat."

"Okay, you lot come with me and I'll show you how to work the library," Neville said, shushing Hermione when she said she could do it.

"You would never come back out if you did it, Mione," Neville declared. "We've got to make some plans while everyone is studying and I'll be right back."

He didn't allow her anymore time to protest and immediately led the group into the library.

Hazel and Harry established themselves on the sofa next to their Granddad and motioned for Hermione to sit down in a large chair opposite from them.

"Okay, you lot," Edmund began, "I know you want to explain about your pasts in the next few days, which means we'll be explaining a bit of ours as well. I agree that it is best that they know the main events from your pasts before we begin proper training. Have you two already covered tracks?"

"Yes, Uncle Ed," Harry said as Hazel nodded. She had situated herself so she was leaning back against Peter with her knees propped up; a notebook rested on her knees and a ballpoint pen dangling in her right hand.

"Good. We also need to have all of the adults share everything they know of the Bee's manipulations. Then we'll need to decide how much of that will be told to the other teens. The information about the Bee will eventually hit the papers, and as many of his manipulations directly affect the people here it might be best to go ahead and inform all of the children about him."

"Some of them already have some vague ideas of what he's done," Hazel said. "Not all of them are as susceptible the mind-altering charms which are his favourite track-covering charms."

"True," Lucy said. "However, right now we need to plan how best to tell them about your pasts, what events to include, and what events to exclude."

"You definitely need to tell them about the boy and girl-who-lived part," Neville put in as he entered the room. He picked Hermione up, sat down, and then pulled her down on top of him. The others gave him a half smile.

Hermione agreed, "Yes, that should definitely be explained. I think the two of you should use that spell with the pensieve and show them your pasts. You need to include the events surrounding the memory-charm mess that happened just after your first birthday. Also, the secret-keeper fiasco should be included, then that Halloween night."

"You should include a little bit of your life at your aunt and uncle's. Not all of it, but some, definitely the parts when you were figuring out your magic and starting to control. Also, some of what you learned about your magic while you were in the forest," Neville added.

Peter nodded and continued, "You should also include the day that the Elves found you and some of what you learned with the Elves. I trust your discretion on that."

"Your years at Hogwarts should probably be included in full," Joethe advised. "Also, you should include any memory that revealed another of the Old Man's manipulations or caused you to suspect him of doing something else. They need to understand what he did in your universe, especially what he did to the two of you."

"That sounds like a plan to me," Hazel somberly stated. She then changed the subject, "Okay, so what are we going to teach them first and what will the schedule be?"

"Well, they need to learn the basics that every Muggle child learns in primary school. Far too many wizards and witches, adults and children, have no idea how to write a proper essay or do more than add, subtract, multiply, or divide. They need to understand how to do percentages, fractions, and decimals. Also, they need to do the basics in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Gaelic. Those are the three main languages that most of their spells are from today," Lucy began.

Harry added, "They also need to learn the basics of herbology and potions, focusing on ingredient reactions. Chemistry would be a good subject to cover, as well as biology, anatomy, and nutrition. We need to completely re-teach them magical theory, as what they have learned is entirely erroneous. Politics of the Old Tradition and languages of the main nations in the Council should be covered. That means French, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Russian, Elvish, Gobbledegook, Faerian, Mermish, Centas, and Dwarvish."

"History should be covered again, approaching the different accounts of history with an eye to finding the truth hidden in them," Hermione practically recommended.

"A bit of psychology with a focus on reading people and animals would be smart. Geography definitely needs to be covered. Basic animal care and how to react to different signals from animals should be covered. Ancient Runes and Arithmancy definitely need to be covered," Edmund added.

"Okay, I think that's a good enough list for now," Hazel interrupted. "We need to decide what we're going to do first and how much time we will spend on those subjects."

"We need to start them on physical training immediately, we should do that after we finish explaining about our pasts," Neville considered. "Physical training can be 2 ½ hours in the morning and 2 in the evening to begin with. It should be stretches, running, and basics of physical combat, at the start. If we have PT at 5:00 each morning then that puts us ending at 7:30. Having a full breakfast at 8:00 will give everyone a half hour to shower and change. That ought to be plenty enough time since there are showers for everyone so no one will have to wait on anyone. We can start classes at 8:30 and continue until 11:30, which is three hours, and have lunch from 11:45 to 12:45. Then afternoon classes can start at 1:15."

"That sounds good, what do we want to teach them first?" Hazel queried, writing down the schedule so far.

"Well, we need to start with the three ancient languages, an hour per day for each of those should be good, so those three can be in the morning," Hermione suggested.

"Sounds good," Peter approved. "In the afternoon you can have one hour of maths from 1:15-2:15, then have two hours of chemistry, ending it at 4:30. Have a half hour break and start PT again at 5. Have another half hour break after PT, and then a half hour dedicated to working on studying the Animagi forms. Supper can be at eight and then a free hour or two until bedtime at 10:00 or 11:00."

"That sounds good; we can alternate the days that we do maths and chemistry with the English and other sciences. English can be one hour, with the combined biology, anatomy, and nutrition class being two hours," Hazel said. She scratched out what they had so far and looked up.

"Now we need to decide how long we'll spend on these classes before moving on."

"Okay, I think that if we work the lesson plans well that we can cover most of the basics in two weeks. Saturday can be reserved as a study day when they can ask about things that they are having particular trouble with or do their readings. Sunday can be reserved as a relax day," Harry recommended. He poked Hazel and said, "You and I can teach the boys, and anyone else who wants, how to do the trick riding on Sundays."

"That sounds good, let's go get the others for supper," Hazel said.

She got up and went to fetch the others before anyone could protest. Harry called Zander again and requested supper for about 38 people. A veritable feast was waiting for everyone as they reconvened in the dining room.

"What were you guys doing tonight?" Harold asked.

"We were setting up a schedule to subjects to learn over the next few weeks," Hermione informed them. "We'll give it to you guys when we start, which won't be for a few days. Tomorrow we plan on starting the explanations about our pasts. I suggest getting up early so that we can get through as much as possible tomorrow."

"Okay," everyone muttered.

"Come on," Neville said, "let's go ahead and get ready for bed. We are doing den tonight, aren't we?"

"Yes," Hazel said. "It's a good idea to go ahead and ready ourselves for bed. That way we can hang out in the den room without worrying about having to get up and get ready before going to sleep."

"Alright, come on guys," James said to the guys who had come that day, "the bathroom is this way. It's huge. There are plenty of sinks, showers, and all that for us to get ready for bed at the same time. We'll see you girls in the den."

The boys followed him out while the girls followed Diana. Hermione and Hazel went to one of the four master bedrooms and used the bathroom connected to it while Harry and Neville used the bathroom in one of the other master bedrooms. Peter and Edmund used another while Lucy and Joethe used the last one.

They all met back in the den about 15 minutes later and got settled on the mattresses. All of the people who had arrived that day had been informed what den was.

Edmund was already playing his pipe with Peter providing accompaniment on the drums. Lucy joined them with a violin-like instrument. Hazel gasped as she recognized the tune they were playing. She grabbed her brother's hand and headed over to the only clear spot on the floor. The next minute they were dancing a lively round dance with Hermione and Neville and Joethe was singing the words of the tune. The rest of the group looked on, mesmerized.

"Bravo, bravo," a voice exclaimed as they finished. Most of the group whipped their heads around to see who had spoken.


	5. Memories

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry this is late but I was trying to make this chapter a little longer. Also, I was having problems with my account yesterday so I couldn't put it up then. I put in a list of the characters involved so far at the beginning, you can skip it if you don't want to read it.

Please give me some ideas on what you guys want. I know there are a lot of people checking out the fic and reading it, I want more than 8 reviews please.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I don't own. Plot and some original characters are mine only.

Enjoy!

* * *

Characters so far:

From the world called White Earth, now in the world called Gold Night:

1. **Harry Potter**- 14 yrs. old, twin brother of Hazel, boy-who-lived, Forest Raven  
Animagus

2. **Hazel Potter**- 14 yrs. old, twin sister of Harry, girl-who-lived, Merlin Falcon  
Animagus

3. **Neville Longbottom**- 14 yrs. old, friend of Harry and Hazel

4. **Hermione Granger**- 14 yrs. old, friend of Harry and Hazel

In Gold Night:

5. **Peter Pevensie**- oldest brother of Edmund and Lucy; grandfather of Harold,  
great-grandfather of James, great-great-grandfather of Harry and Hazel

6. **Edmund Pevensie**- younger brother of Peter, twin of Lucy; grandfather of John,  
great-grandfather of Remus, Ryan and Rhiannon

7. **Lucy Pevensie**- younger sister of Peter, twin of Edmund; grandmother of Aeneas Longbottom, great-grandmother of Frank, great-great-grandmother of Neville

8. **Joethe Niphredil**- friend of the Pevensies; great-great-grandmother of Hermione

9. **Harold Potter**- 38, husband of Diana and father of James, Black Jaguar Animagus

10. **Diana Potter**- 37, wife of Harold and mother of James, Bobcat-Persian mix  
Animagus

11. **James Potter**- 16, son of Harold and Diana; a Marauder; large white stag

12. **John Lupin**- 38, husband of Amber and father of Remus, Ryan and Rhiannon;  
orange tabby Animagus

13. **Amber Lupin**- 38, wife of John and mother of Remus, Ryan and Rhiannon; river otter Animagus

14. **Remus Lupin**- 16, son of John and Amber, older brother of Ryan and Rhiannon; A Marauder; silver European wolf Animagus and a great were-wolf

15. **Ryan Lupin**- 12, son of John and Amber, younger brother of Remus and twin of Rhiannon; coyote Animagus

16. **Rhiannon Lupin**- 12, daughter of John and Amber, younger sister of Remus and twin of Ryan; Red Wolf Animagus

17. **Lucas Dubhe**- 38, husband of Catrina and father of Peter and Sarah; greyhound

18. **Catrina Dubhe**- 37, wife of Lucas and mother of Peter and Sarah; gold finch

19. **Peter Dubhe**- 16, son of Lucas and Catrina, older brother of Sarah; a Marauder; white ferret

20. **Sarah Dubhe**- 11, daughter of Lucas and Catrina, younger sister of Peter;  
porcupine Animagus

21. **Aeneas Longbottom**- 43, husband of Augusta and father of Frank;  
Howler Monkey

22. **Augusta Longbottom**- 41, wife of Aeneas and mother of Frank; black swan

23. **Frank Longbottom**- 18, son of Aeneas and Augusta; thoroughbred horse

24. **Darach Evans**- 40, father of Lily; lion

25. **Lily Evans**- 16, daughter of Darach; white tiger

26. **Argus Filch**- 44, Hogwarts' caretaker

27. **Minerva McGonagall**- 42, Transfigurations teacher at Hogwarts

28. **Sirius Black**- 16, older brother of Regulus and cousin of Narcissa; a Marauder;  
big black dog

29. **Regulus Black**- 13, younger brother of Sirius and cousin of Narcissa;  
Livingstone fruit bat

30. **Narcissa Black**- 14, cousin of Sirius and Regulus; Impa Pegasus

31. **Alice Dahlia**- 17, Shetland pony

32. **Shamira Aren**- 15, friend of Lily and Aria; Arctic fox

33. **Aria Caelistis**- 15, friend of Lily and Shamira; mongoose

34. **Severus Snape**- 16, a Marauder; black hawk

* * *

**Night, July 4, 1975**

"Are those the Founders?" Severus disbelievingly queried.

"Why, of course we are, young man," the man who had spoken before answered. He then turned his sparkling green eyes to Harry and Hazel. "Would you two care to introduce us to your new friends?"

"Certainly, Sal," Hazel answered, choking back a laugh at the look on the faces of the others. They apparently hadn't expected to meet the spectral beings of the founders while they were here.

"Everyone, these are the ghosts," she ignored the scowls of the two spectral men, "of the Four Founders. Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin."

"Sal, El, Ric, and Row, these are Harold, Diana and James Potter; John, Amber, Remus, Ryan and Rhiannon Lupin; Lucas, Catrina, Peter and Sarah Dubhe; Aeneas, Augusta and Frank Longbottom; Darach and Lily Evans; Minerva McGonagall; Argus Filch; Alice Dahlia; Aria Caelistis; Shamira Aren; Sirius and Regulus Black; Narcissa Black; Severus Snape; and I do believe you already know Granddad and his friends."

"Why, yes, it's a pleasure to see you four again," Rowena addressed the four oldest adults, even if they didn't look it. "It is also good to see that Neville and Hermione have finally joined you. Have you lot gone over the Bee's manipulations yet? Have you told them of your pasts?"

"No, ma'am," Harry answered. "Granddad's wife and the other three's spouses are coming tomorrow along with another person. After they show up we are going to give explanations of our pasts. Then we will go over the Bee's manipulations here."

"Alright," Godric nodded, "that sounds like a good plan. You should probably get some sleep as it will be a long day for you tomorrow."

"That's what we were just about to do," Nev smirked, "when you startled everyone."

Salazar made a face back at him and said, "Well, don't let us keep you anymore."

Peter and his friends were smiling while Harry and Hazel shot teasing smirks at Sal, and Hermione snorted. They settled themselves down in the mattresses next and everyone else followed.

Sarah spoke up from where she was squished between her dad and her brother: "I want another song now, that one was very beautiful."

"What about it, Shay? You want to?" Hazel asked her brother. He looked at her.

**Sing Dad's lullaby, Shay, please**, he heard in his head.

He gave her a piercing look, noticing she had curled herself in between James and Remus. **That's the one he wrote for you, Aure, are you sure?**

**Yes**, she said back to him, **I want to hear it. **

**Okay**, he answered and took a deep breath. The next second he was singing _a cappella_, a hypnotizing melody with a mysterious air to it. His rich tenor was not his father's base, but Hazel enjoyed the song anyway.

"_Hush my little baby child, my Sunray,_

_The dreams are gone,_

_They've run away,_

_And we await the dawn._

_The sandman comes_

_With fairy dust,_

_To give you dreams_

_You'll love, you must._

_For Sleep awaits_

_To meet us, now._

_And we must join Him,_

_No matter how._

_But Daddy will be here_

_And the monsters will run._

_Do not fear,_

_For they haven't won._

_I'll chase away the shadows,_

_And scold the night,_

_For scaring my Sunray._

_I'll chase away the fright._

_So, close your eyes,_

_And when you wake_

_We'll meet the daybreak_

_So hush my child, my little Sunray._

Most of the group had fallen asleep as he sang; he noticed when he opened his eyes. Hazel peered at him out of sleep-heavy eyes. She smiled and closed her eyes. He smiled at her, she was healing, and this place was already good for them. His thoughts drifted off as he, too, submitted to the land of slumber.

* * *

**Morning, July 5, 1975**

Everyone was having a good time at breakfast. Multiple conversations were being held up and down the table in the Great Hall. People stepped in and out of conversations as quickly and easily as if the group had known each other for years. Albus Dumbledore had yet to show up at the table and Minerva was holding a lively conversation with Harry and Hazel about the state of education at Hogwarts. She found the two teens to be more knowledgeable in magical theory than herself.

There were books by some people, Albus' brother included, that talked of magic as if it permeated everything. Her control had increased as she tried some of the different things these books discussed but she had never fully 'broken through' as some of the books described it. She couldn't fully understand what the books meant by the fact that magic was all around and in you and that it interacted with every part of your being. She didn't understand why the books emphasized physical and emotional health or observance of your surroundings. It's always good to observe one's surroundings for things that are out of place or could be a danger, but she didn't understand why it would affect your magic.

These two teens seemed to understand what the books meant, from what she could tell as they talked.

"We'll be giving you guys a completely new view of magical theory over the next few days, Professor McGonagall," Harry politely told her. "What all of you have learned so far is only half of what magic really is and half of what you've been told is wrong anyway. We intend not only to tell you, but to _show_ you, what magic really is."

"That sounds very interesting, but is there a specific reason why you will be going over this as one of the first subjects?" she queried back.

"Yes," Hazel answered. "Understanding magical theory: how magic works and relates to your body, mind, and soul and how it relates to nature, animals, and life is the best way to increase your control over your spells. Additionally, you will be able to accomplish things you once thought impossible if you understand magical theory fully enough to throw off the misconceptions which have created an expectation of magic in your mind. These misconceptions often guide and determine what people expect they can do with magic, even if they can do much more, and it is people's beliefs in their own abilities that is often the best indicator of how well they will do."

"I couldn't have said that better myself," Lucy put in from her place across from Hazel.

Hazel smiled at her and turned to Neville, who had just asked her something, when the Great Hall doors opened wide. Harry and Hazel, however, were not paying attention to who was coming in through the Great Hall doors. They were, rather, paying attention to the old man standing in the staff's entrance door. He had his wand out and pointed at a number of the group, a rather surprised look crossing his face as the spells he cast met a wall of resistance.

Edmund had noticed where Harry and Hazel's attention was focused and he nudged his twin. She gazed where he nodded and took up his hand. They began to aid the younger set of twins in keeping the old man from interfering with the people at the table. Now his spells were not only meeting a wall of resistance but being pushed back, grabbed, severed from his control, destroyed, and the neutral magic emptying back into the magic of the very air around them.

Harry and Hazel gave them tight nods when they detected that the spells were completely gone. Having already instructed the castle to not allow any spells the old man cast to touch anyone; they calmly turned to regard the newcomers whom had made their way up to the table.

Peter gave them a piercing look, which Edmund returned with a tap to his left elbow, signaling that he would inform his brother what happened later. Peter nodded and spoke, gesturing to the lady at his side, "Everyone this is my wife, Belle; her Healer apprentice, Miajorsi Tinuviel; Miajorsi's Master apprentice, Zatiar Rohan; Edmund's wife Ariel; Lucy's husband Dracula Entrun; and Joethe's husband Jiihio Niphredil."

Hazel choked back a laughed and asked Dracula, "You wouldn't by any chance be a writer with the pen name Bram Stoker, would you?"

"Now, whatever would make you think that?" he airily replied, winking at her. Lucy made a move to slap him and he ducked, but the children were still laughing as he came up.

Lucy smirked and said to him in Elven, "_Too bad you can't see yourself in a mirror right now, Drake. You'll be lucky if anyone actually tells you what's so funny, I doubt they will."_

Drake warily regarded her and turned back to the group, bowing to the young lady who had so quickly figured out his game. He pressed a kiss to her wrist as she tried to stifle her giggles and inquired, "May I be so bold as to inquire after the names of my brother's companions here?"

"You may," the young girl replied gracefully, masterfully entering into the spirit of the game. She curtsied to him and continued, "I am Hazel Potter; this is my twin brother, Harry."

Harry gave a slight bow to Drake, clearly enjoying the playfully traditionalist way he was greeting everyone. The introductions continued along the table until everyone had been covered, Dumbledore was still standing, dumbstruck, in the staff entrance.

It was at that moment that Peter turned his head to the doorway and noticed the old man standing there. Peter narrowed his eyes slightly and his whole body tensed. The rest of the group had not noticed the headmaster yet, except for his brother, sister, and great-great-grandchildren.

Peter gestured to the group to quiet and turned his attention fully onto the headmaster of the school.

"Please come and join us, Pierce, it has been a long time," Peter implored him.

Albus tensely came forward and took a seat, scowling at the fact that Hazel was sitting in the traditional head's chair. _That child doesn't deserve to sit there_, he thought. _She hasn't done anything great or defeated a dark lord. She just came from a different world, that's all. Nothing special._

Breakfast continued as a tense affair from that point on, the oppressive silence being broken when the Great Hall doors opened for the second time that day. Four people slowly made their way up to the table. The four young adults walked straight to their superior, Harold Potter.

One of the young men stepped forward and addressed Auror Potter when he realized that no one else would.

"Head Auror Castpole informed us that the two of you found some people you wish to train from. Auror Castpole wishes for more than just you and your partner to train from them so that there may be more people to pass on this training to the rest of the Aurors. He told us that during training we will be placed under your direct command, sir."

"I wish he had spoken to me about this before," Harold replied. "I do not know if it is acceptable to the people we are receiving training from. They may not take you four on as students."

Harold surreptitiously glanced toward his grandfather. Peter, in turn, glanced at Harry and Hazel. Harry, Hazel, Hermione, and Neville all seemed to be holding a deep discussion, though they were not speaking. The four were not huddled together, merely giving each other intense looks at intervals. Finally, Hazel turned his way and balled up her hand into a fist. The fist shook up and down, he had his answer.

Peter turned back to Harold and tapped the table, using his first two fingers on his right hand and tapping twice. The message was passed on, all in a matter of two seconds.

"However," Harold continued, "you may come with us to where we are staying and we can question the instructors themselves. First, give me your names."

"Harish Isha, sir," the man who had spoken to him said. He was Indian looking with bronze skin, jet black hair, and hazel brown eyes. Respectful and confident, he had not fidgeted at all as the group focused solely on him and his companions.

"Oriana Cotton, sir," the young woman with olive skin, curly dark hair, and chocolate brown eyes supplied. She was respectful and well-trained as well. Never faltering as multiple eyes came to fall on her, the only sign of discomfort being a very slight flush to her face.

"Kalliope Ichigo, sir," the Asian woman reported. A slightly defiant tilt to her chin indicating her intention to prove herself, to not be underestimated.

"Sean Crispus, sir," the curly blond-headed young man somewhat snobbishly informed him. The young man held himself with poor posture, fidgeting with his hands, and tilting his head up arrogantly as Harold looked him over.

"Very well, we were just about to leave anyhow, fall in and come with us, then," Harold ordered as he rose. The rest of the adults and children walked ahead of him, his partner, and their new subordinates. From the somewhat disinterested look in Sean's eyes and disbelieving look in Kalliope's eyes at the fact that they were following a group of common adults and young teens, Peter knew they would have a time with those two. It appeared that Harry, Hazel, Neville, and Hermione did as well. Those four were casting considering glances at the other two young Aurors and calculating ones at Sean and Kalliope.

* * *

Dumbledore watched the group go, disgruntled that a force seemed to be holding him in his chair, not allowing him to follow. A few minutes later, when he finished his breakfast and tried to get up again, he failed. Pulling at his robes he only managed to rip the fabric of the seat of his robes, showing his heart and cupid boxers underneath. Livid that someone would dare prank him, he stormed back to his office.

* * *

The expanded group made it to the Founders' Chambers. As they entered the new members of the group immediately noticed the four spectral beings floating on the other side of the room. These ghosts were unlike any they had ever seen before. Their clothes had color, as did their skin, though it was a pale imitation of what the colors must have been when they were alive. Their bodies were less transparent and these ghosts were using magic on a piece of parchment in front of them; a piece of parchment that was most certainly not ghostly parchment.

**Hazel's point of view**

"Good morning, everyone," I began, ignoring the Founders' ghosts for the moment. Sean snorted and interrupted, "When are we going to meet the instructors? We don't have time to listen to some little girl."

I was already standing straight so I merely tensed myself and leveled him with a stare that my brother assures me is more unnerving than looking straight into the magical eye of Mad-Eye Moody. _This man is going to be a menace and a nuisance. He has no concept whatsoever of proper conduct or of how to keep his guard up. I could have killed him 20 times in 20 ways with his lack of attention just on the way up here and, yet, he is arrogant about his superiority. _I narrowed my eyes at him and spoke in a deceptively calm whisper.

"Sean Crispus, I, Hazel Potter, challenge thee to a duel on the grounds of defamation against my name and character. Do you accept?"

**Sean's point of view**

_This little bird is idiotic._ _ She's not even half my size and she can't be more than 12, I'd kill her in a duel._ I looked toward Auror Potter; he looked as if he agreed with the girl. Fine. I'll duel.

"Fine, I accept."

**Normal point of view**

An area in the middle of the floor was quickly cleared out for their duel. Hazel faced Sean only a few paces away. Arms loosely held at her side with no wand out at all. Sean faced her with his wand in hand.

Peter stepped up to referee.

"Turn around and take five paces."

The two turned to face away from each other, taking the five paces.

"Turn around and face your opponent."

They did so. There was still no wand in Hazel's hand. She stood in a stance with her body angled, knees bent, arms held up and fisted as if she were in a common Muggle street fight. Sean stood with legs only slightly apart, back and knees straight, right hand up with wand, left hand hanging limply by his side.

"On the count of three, begin."

Hazel eyed his wand. Sean aimed.

"One"

Sean readied a curse in his mind. Hazel's eyes narrowed and she shifted to rest her weight on the balls of her feet.

"Two"

Sean began to wave his wand in the correct manner for the curse. Hazel bent more, as if readying to sprint.

"Three"

Sean spoke the curse, "Everte Statum."

Hazel easily dodged to the right even as she sprinted forward towards him, still without wand in hand.

"Immobulus," he cried again, missing by a wide margin. The girl was nearly on him now. He stuck out his left hand to punch her but she wiped his arm to the side as if it were a mere mosquito and punched him in the gut as he was about to speak another spell. He wheezed for breath, trying futilely to get away from her. She grabbed his right hand, twisting it behind his back and pulling his wand free. An arm went around his neck from behind and he was being choked, everything went black.

Hazel allowed the slack body of the larger man to slip to the floor. She stepped around to stand in front of the man, holding his wand. Harry checked him for any broken bones, finding none; he leveled his wand at the man.

"Enervate," Harry stated. Sean woke up, blinking his eyes up at the girl who was holding out her hand. He took her hand and pulled up. Glowering, he took the offered wand from her hand.

Everyone else looked stunned accept for three of the other teens and eight of the adults.

"How'd I do, Granddad?" Hazel asked one of the men who didn't look surprised that she had won.

"Excellently, Naya," the straw haired man said. "Your technique was wonderful. You took advantage of the pressure points left open and quickly disabled him. You started out with an appropriate stance, limiting the target area on your body. You reacted well to his actions. Good job."

"Anyone have any suggestions for what Mr. Crispus could have done differently?" Hazel inquired of the rest of the group.

Aria looked awed, "You didn't use any magic!"

"No, I didn't," Hazel answered. "You don't have to use magic to defeat a magical opponent. What was the other point for my not using magic?"

"Well," young Peter spoke up, "you were making the point that even though you are half his size you could still do damage to him. You were making a point to not underestimate your opponent."

"Very good, Chit," Hazel smiled approvingly at him.

"Now, for my first question. What is something Mr. Crispus could have done differently when his technique did not work?"

"He should have aimed for you better at first. His technique of spells only would have worked better if he had actually hit you since you weren't using any type of shields," James volunteered.

"Yes, his aim certainly does need work. The first time he missed was more because she dodged, but the second time he missed was because he aimed improperly. Firing at moving targets is something all of you will be learning," Harry replied this time. "Now, can anyone tell me something he could have done differently? Yes, Darach?"

"He should have been moving himself. When he saw that she was headed his way he should have moved from the spot he was in. She would have had to come after him that way. He also should have used hand-to-hand fighting techniques more accurately. The punch he threw makes it obvious he has never done any hand-to-hand fighting before. I'm going to assume that you are training us to fight in any situation and it is not common for every opponent you meet to rely only on one type of fighting," Darach replied.

"Very good, that is exactly what we were looking for. Have you trained in martial arts before?" Harry asked.

"I've been doing martial arts since I was a child. Petunia never got interested in it, but Lily's been taking martial arts since she was four," Darach supplied.

"Excellent, you two can help us teach the others. Granddad and his friends all probably know physical defense as well, yes?" Hazel continued when they nodded. "So, they'll be assisting in that training, too."

"Now, what was the last point I was making. Purebloods should know this one."

"You were making a point that you would not tolerate people assuming something about you simply because of your age. Your point was that you would not tolerate people implying that you couldn't possibly have anything important to say or to teach them simply because you are a 'little girl'," Harish stated.

"Very good, Harish," Hazel nodded approvingly.

"My brother, friends, and I have trained under Elven masters in physical fighting and magical fighting arts. We have much to teach you if you are willing to learn, but if you insist on assuming that simply because we are teenagers we have nothing to teach you, then you will come away from this training with nothing but an intense hatred for Elves. We are harsh taskmasters and we expect to be obeyed. If you do not obey us then you will be punished, and we've been known to come up with some very _creative_ punishments."

"Before we can begin to train you here, you must understand why we were sent to this universe in the first place and why the training is necessary. To understand that you need to see a large amount of our memories from our first world, called White Earth in prophecy. Today and tomorrow will be spent going over these memories, after that we will begin training and continue showing you the minor memories when free time allows," Harry explained.

Hermione took her cue and spoke, "To show you the memories we are using a pensieve, which you see near the fireplace, and a spell which will project the memories from the pensieve onto the screen over that wall. This spell is "progetto immagine diapositive." I do believe that at least a few of the adults will know of it."

Harold, John, Diana, Amber, and Harish nodded their heads.

"Our memories will show in as close to chronological order as possible," Neville took over. "The different colored strands in the bowl indicate the different memories from each of us, we have them in the order we wish them to be in. We will alert you when there is a switch in whose memories are showing."

"Now, everyone please take a seat where you can see the screen," Hazel requested. "Thank you. The first memories you see will be mine. Harry and I are one year old and it is just after our birthday party."

Harry dimmed the lights in the room and Hermione initiated the spell to view the memories. An image of a comfortable living room decorated in deep reds and earthy brown shades came up on screen. Sitting in the room were a young couple of about 20 years of age. The man, James' counterpart, was holding a baby Harry while his wife, Lily's counterpart (to her shock) was leaning against him. Remus' counterpart was holding a baby Hazel as she looked out at the old man seated across from her parents. Her gaze did not hold any warmth, but rather fear and anger.

"_James, Lily, I must implore you to reconsider my offer to hide at Dumbledore Manor," the image of Albus Dumbledore's counterpart said. Waves of deceit, bitterness, and hate emanated from him as he spoke._

"_No, Albus," James firmly declined. "We will hide here and you will not be our Secret Keeper either. We have gone over this. We will decide when to put the charm on, not you. We will decide when or even if, we block our children's power, NOT you. Now I suggest you leave."_

_Sirius' counterpart stood up then, to show Albus out. He looked angry at the old man. Albus cast a spell out of his wand where it was hidden in his sleeve. It was a muddy brown beam traveling toward James and Lily when both Harry and Hazel looked at it, held their hands up, and light came out of their hands. The light they sent off attacked and destroyed the spell the headmaster had cast. It didn't look as if anyone else had noticed._

_Albus nodded and left the house. When Sirius returned to the room Harry stuck his hands out at him. He picked the toddler up and settled down on the floor with him. Hazel came to join them and babbled at him._

"_Bad bee make bad light at Daddy," she told him. The adults all stopped and stared at her. Hazel went on as if nothing was wrong, "Bwuda and I make bad light go away."_

"_James," Remus spoke, "I think we should check you and Lily and the two of us for any spells we may have on us."_

"_I think so, too," James answered. Lily looked as if she was remembering something, she shuddered and leaned further into him. He put his arms around her and pulled her close._

"_What's wrong, Lils?" he asked his wife._

_She looked up at him with frightened eyes. "James," she whispered, "Harry and Hazel have made that same gesture with their arms up, hands facing towards each other, almost every time Dumble has come to visit. They almost never make that gesture any other time. What if they've been stopping him from casting spells at us for months?"_

"_They may have, and they're smart babies if they have," he answered her. "We'll have to find out if he's done anything to us when they haven't been around to stop it."_

"_James," Remus hesitated, "I think what Lily means is HOW did they know he was casting spells at us?"_

"_They can see magic," Sirius stated as if it was obvious. "What? My cousin, Narcissa, can see magic. It's rare, but it does happen. It would explain why they always think it's fun when I cast spells like Reparo, that have no light, they always seem to be looking at thin air between myself and the object I'm repairing. Also, it would explain why they say we're funny coloured."_

"_That would explain it," James mused. "But, now, we need to find out if there are any spells on us, what they are, who cast them, and if we can remove or contain them."_

"_Yes, well, we should check you two first," Remus said. "Dumbledore spends more time with you two and is obviously more concerned with having your children do as he wants than he wants us to believe."_

"_With that viewpoint, we should also check Frank and Alice," Lily added. "Neus and Naya are twins so their combined power may be enough to contain or stop Dumble's spells but I doubt that Neville could do it by himself, no matter how powerful he is. That's also assuming that Nev can see magic like our two can."_

"_Yes, that is a good idea, but how do we approach the subject?" James asked._

"_You don't have to, but you should be more careful about letting people sneak up on you," Frank's voice came from behind them. _

_All four adults jumped and turned toward the door to the parlor room where the floo fireplace was. Standing in the doorway were Alice and Frank Longbottom, both looking somewhat amusedly at the group. Nev and the twins were now playing together on the floor in front of Frank and Alice._

"_We were just wondering how to broach the exact same subject with you," Alice interrupted, stepping around the children to sit down in one of the couches._

"_Frank went to check on some family finances the other day. With his father's health failing as it is, Frank is now the main overseer of the finances and estate. When he entered his vault several wards sounded, signaling the existence of unwanted spells upon his person," Alice explained. "I was with him, his mother had Neville, and the wards revealed the spells to be a number of binding spells upon his magic, enforcement of certain behaviors towards several people, concealment of suspicions towards Albus Dumbledore, and memory modification spells. However, the wards also revealed three different types of magic containing the behavior modifying, suspicion concealing, and memory modifying spells. We knew that it could not be our magic so we decided to check Neville's magical signature. Sure enough, one of the signatures containing the spells was our son's and we thought the other two might be Neus' and Naya's."_

"_We did the revealing spell on Alice, as well," Frank cut in. "She had the same spells on her, along with the containing forces. Would you like us to do the revealing spells on each of you? And would you like us to check Neus' and Naya's signatures?"_

"_Yes, please," Lily murmured. Frank and Alice cast the revealing spell at each of them and a multitude of dark, sinister looking colors appeared around each of them. The spells were mostly the same for each, with a variation on the memory and behavior modification spell on Remus (since his lycanthropy made him immune to the other two spells used on the others), and an added one on all three marauders to force them to treat Severus Snape badly and to not question why they 'hate' Severus._

_All but the binding spells were contained in the same three signatures Frank and Alice noticed when they checked themselves over. They cast the spell to reveal visual magical signatures on the twins and their own son again._

"_Well, looks like you were right," Remus muttered, staring disbelievingly at the three toddlers._

"_Damn, they must be a sight powerful if they can keep containing these spells and still do the 'not-so-accidental' magic that they do," Sirius exclaimed, ducking the pillow Lily threw at him and getting hit by the spell Alice sent his way._

"_Ugh, Alice," Sirius whined, "did you have to do the 'clean-the-mouth-with-soap' spell?"_

"_Yes, and I'll continue to do it until you learn not to use vulgar language around my son," the lady in question stared at Sirius and he looked away, amidst snickers from the others._

_Lily giggled and implored, "Alice, you HAVE to teach me that spell. I could use it on James, here."_

"_Hey!" James cried out, pointing at Sirius. "I'm not anything near as bad as that lout."_

"_No, but I could still use it," Lily smirked at James._

"_Alright, guys," Remus interjected. "Weren't we talking about the spells on us and the containments. We don't need to do anything with the spells that are contained, taking them down could alert the Old Bee and that's not what we want. However, we do need to take the block down, which won't alert him immediately and when he does find out he may just chalk it up to our being adults and able to break through without knowing about it."_

"_Yes, we do need to take the block down. That's part of the reason we came here," Frank said. "We know of the spell to break binds on magic, but neither of us are skilled enough at charms to try it. Since you are a charms mistress, Lily, we thought you might be the best one to do it."_

"_Sure, Remus can take mine off. I'm certainly not trusting any of the rest of you to do it," Lily replied._

"_Just make yourself comfortable on a chair or lying on the floor. Outside magical interference could be detrimental so be sure you take off any jewelry, holsters, etc. that have spells on them," Lily instructed. Frank followed her directions and lay on the floor. Sirius and Remus took it upon themselves to hold the children as Lily did the spell._

_Lily readied her wand and warned, "This may hurt a bit."_

"_Okay, go on," Frank told her. Lily waved and circled her wand, clearly pronouncing, "Convello Redimio."_

_Coloured lights shot out of Lily's wand in a weave, being joined by some of the coloured magic in the air as the beam approach Frank's chest. All three children seemed to be staring at the beam as they were held in their 'Uncles' arms. The beam hit Frank's chest and he tightened his fist, clenching his jaw against the pain._

_A few seconds later the beam left and Harry wriggled out of Sirius' grasp. He shakily walked over to Frank and planted his baby hands on the man's chest. A soft, pale goldish-white light shot out of the baby's hands and into the man's chest. Frank sat up almost instantly, picking the child up and staring at him. Finally, Harry squirmed out of Frank's grasp and joined his sister and friend, who were playing with the blocks. Frank turned back to the group._

"_I think he's a natural healer," the man whispered, awed. "He put his hands on me and the next instant it felt as if a warm burst of energy were melting into me, soothing away the soreness."_

_The rest of the group looked startled and stared at the children, wondering what other surprises the three babies had in store for them._

The scene began to fade away as another scene melted into view. This time the group was standing right outside the Potter's cottage in Godric's Hollow. Harry and Hazel were obviously a few months older than the last memory. Peter was with the group, while Remus was missing, and the Longbottoms were absent as well.

"_Alright, Albus," James greeted the old man. "We're ready to do the Fidelius Charm now. Peter is going to be our Secret Keeper and Sirius will be a decoy, since everyone else would guess Sirius before Peter, we believe Voldemort would also. Are you ready to ward the house?"_

"_Yes, quite ready," Albus replied. "I'll just set the parameters for the area to be covered in the spell as reaching to the fence. After I accomplish that I will join you in the entrance hall and set Peter as the secret keeper. Sirius, you will have to remain outside the warding area until Peter can tell you the secret."_

_Sirius quietly stepped out of the fenced in area, wondering if this was a good idea or not._

_James and Lily walked back into the house, each holding a child. Peter followed them inside. _The image sped up until Dumbledore joined the group again.

"_Alright, Peter, are you ready?" Dumbledore inquired._

_Peter nodded, glancing at the two children who were looking at him angrily. He stepped back at their looks, wondering if the two children could know what their parents had not found out._

_Dumbledore traced a rune on Peter's forehead with his wand. The short, rat-like man shuddered slightly and closed his eyes. _

_Peter then said to Dumbledore, "The Potter's can be found at 4 Gryphon's Path, Godric's Hollow, England."_

_Dumbledore nodded to the shifty man and apparated away. Peter walked out of the house and a few minutes later Sirius joined the group._

_James looked at him and said, "I have a feeling we just did something very stupid. If anything happens to you because of this, Sirius, remember that you're my brother and nothing can change that. I'm going to write down all of this and place it somewhere that Neus and Naya will find it, incase it is needed someday."_

_Sirius solemnly nodded and Lily hugged him, tears silently tracking down her cheeks. She stepped back. James put his free arm around her waist and she leaned into him._

"_I'll remember that. Take care of yourselves," Sirius gravely said, turning to head out of the door._

The memory faded and fog coalesced around the screen. The living room of Godric's Hollow emerged onto the screen again. It was bedecked in jack-o-lanterns, bats, and candles. Four people were playing on the floor, two toddlers and two adults. It didn't look to be very long after the previous memory. A lion outfit and a wolf outfit were worn by Harry and Hazel, respectively.

"_Hey there Naya," James picked Hazel up and tickled her, she slapped at his hands, not smiling._

"_What do you think is wrong with them, Jay?" Lily worriedly asked. "I've checked them for everything. They don't have fevers and they don't appear to be sick."_

"_I don't know. This behaviour is odd for them. They're usually happy, easygoing kids," James answered her._

_Lily nodded, holding Harry close. She responded, "I know. Naya didn't even cry when she got out of her high chair and crawled into the hot potatoes dish. Thank heaven for Neus being a natural healer. And he didn't even cry when he fell off his toy broom and broke his arm. For them to be so despondent is disconcerting."_

_A few seconds later the two toddlers began moving restlessly, tears leaking from their eyes but neither making any noise. James straightened when he heard a sound from outside. He handed Hazel to Lily and went to check the windows. Lily stood up tensely, her wand resting in her right hand, Harry and Hazel in a conjured sling around her front._

_James paled as he looked out the window. Turning to Lily, he cried, "It's Voldemort, Lily, it's him. Go, Take Har and Haz_, I'll hold him off. Go, I love you."

_He kissed her and strode out of the room. Lily turned and ran into the children's nursery, searching for the emergency portkey she had hidden. She found it, and it didn't work. She flinched at the sounds of fighting and made a small cry at the acid green light followed by a thump. Footsteps echoed up the stairs._

_She placed the children in their cot and turned around, just as a red-eyed man entered the room. _

"_Stand aside, silly girl."_

"_No, not my children. Take me, kill me instead," Lily cried._

"_Stand aside, silly girl. I didn't come to kill you. I have much in mind for you," the red-eyed monster said again._

_Lily shuddered, but did not move. "No, not my children. Kill me instead."_

"_Very well, have it your way." The acid green light erupted from his wand and struck her in the chest, she fell in front of the cot, lifeless._

_Voldemort approached the cot, staring sadistically at the toddlers held within._

"_Well, you two are supposed to be able to defeat me. Look at you now. I'll kill you and then your friend, little Neville, and where will the Old Man's prophecy get him then," the snake-like man murmured. _

_Harry and Hazel were leaning against each other, crying harder, temples touching. Voldemort raised his wand again and shouted, "Avada Kedavra."_

_Green light sped toward the twins at astonishing speed. It enveloped the children but did not touch them. A small jet from the larger beam hit them where their foreheads touched, leaving small scars behind. Pale, goldish-white light surrounded the babies and pushed back at the green light. The gold-white light enveloped and devoured the green light and shot back at Voldemort. His body burned to ash and a black spirit floated away from the house leaving decaying plants in its wake._

The scene changed again to show the two twins being held by Hagrid. Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore were standing in front of a small house when Hagrid approached with the twins.

"_Albus, you can't mean to leave them here," Minerva exclaimed. "I've been here all day. These are the worst sorts of Muggles there are. Lily and James would never want them to be left here."_

"_Yes, but these are their only living relatives and think of how daunting it would be to grow up in a Wizarding house. They'll be famous, famous for something they can't even remember. Famous before they walk and talk," the elderly headmaster replied. "I have a letter here for them. I'm sure they'll be safe until they can come to Hogwarts."_

_Minerva and Hagrid said their farewells and left, Hagrid taking the flying motorbike Sirius Black had lent him. Albus Dumbledore set the two children down on the doorstep, tucking his letter in their blankets._

"_You had better grow up how I want, brats," the headmaster scornfully muttered. "Don't know how two snot-nosed babies could be the saviors of the Wizarding World. It ought to be me. I'm the one who's defeated a dark lord before. I hope your aunt and uncle hate you as much as your mother said they hated her."_

_With those parting words said, the headmaster, leader of the light, defeater of Grindelwald, apparated away, leaving two toddlers to suffer at the hands of their 'family'._

The scene faded out again. It remained black and the group noticed Hazel had stopped it. Some of the people in the group looked somewhat shell-shocked, never having suspected Albus Dumbledore of being anything other than good. However, a fair few of the group only looked as if some of their suspicions had been confirmed. Oddly enough, most of the children looked as if they weren't surprised at all.

"The next memory is mine," Neville said. "It is about 5 months after the attack on Harry and Hazel."

A comfortable room in a manor coalesced from the dark screen.

_Baby Neville and his parents, Frank and Alice, were sitting on the sofa when the front door banged open. Four people stormed into the living room, throwing curses haphazardly. Frank and Alice stepped in front of their son, shielding him._

"_What do you want, Bellatrix?" Frank hissed at her._

"_We want to know where are master is. What did those Potter brats do with him?" the only lady of the group demanded._

"_Your master is defeated," Alice scathingly replied, wand outstretched in front of her. "Defeated by two toddlers, no less."_

"_Don't you talk of our master, that way, whore," Bellatrix screeched, casting the Cruciatus curse at her. Alice ducked and Frank began firing at the four. Alice managed to hide Neville in a secret compartment in the bookshelves while everyone was fighting. She joined Frank in casting spells. Eventually they were disarmed and each placed under the Cruciatus until they could not respond._

_Bellatrix turned toward the panel and noticed it was cracked. The side of a baby's face peered out. She cackled manically and accio-ed the child to her. Neville was then placed under the Cruciatus until a group of Aurors swarmed the house a few seconds later._

The scene faded out and the screen returned to black again.

Frank was holding Alice while she cried quietly. A stunned Lily was ensconced in her father's arms. Hazel stood up and walked over to James. Pulling James up, she pulled him over to Lily and her father. With a shove, James was sitting down next to Lily with Hazel on his other side. Harry sat on the other side of Lily and the twins whispered in their parents' counterparts' ears for a few seconds. Neville also took a place near Frank and Alice and whispered to them. Several minutes later the counterparts of the children's parents had settled down and stopped crying.

Harry, Hazel, and Neville looked at Hermione. She, in turn, gave a minute nod to her friends.

"This next memory is mine," Hermione began to explain. "It is a bit out of order, in that it happened before the Potters and Longbottoms were attacked. We felt that they should be in this order so that we would have some good memories to look forward to before we break for lunch or anything like that. They take place in the summer, probably about a few weeks after their birthday."

The assembled group looked confused as the bushy haired witch made a gesture which seemed to encompass all three of the other worlders. Their confusion did not go unnoticed.

Hazel faintly smiled and said, "Neville was born the same day Harry and I were, about half an hour before us. Her memory happened after our first birthday."

Hermione began the memory after that. A small park appeared on the screen.

_Two somewhat older adults were off to the side watching a little girl play in the sandbox. Bushy brain hair fanned around the lady's head while her husband's chocolate brown eyes gazed alternately at the little girl and the lady._

_The next moment a group of four adults and three children came walking up the sidewalk. Hermione looked curiously at the new children. When the three were placed in the sandbox with her she smiled at the other little girl._

"_Casah," Hazel happily replied. She and Harry immediately dug their hands into the sand and began making little piles of it. The other boy moved closer to Hermione._

"_I Nev," the little boy told her. Hermione smiled at him and replied, "I Mia."_

_The other two children looked up and the girl said, "I Naya, he Neus."_

_Hermione nodded and began helping to pile the sand into a castle. Meanwhile, the sets of parents were over on the bench getting acquainted. A few moments later Hermione looked at the pile of sand, frowning. She held her hands toward the pile and concentrated. Lily Potter noticed the child and began to pay more attention to what she was doing, as did the girl's father._

_Hermione's hand hovered over the sand. Sand began to shape into a more rectangular shape, little towers and turrets of sand stuck out of the rectangles. Hermione removed her hands when she was satisfied and nodded._

_Lily jabbed her husband in the arm and leaned over to him. They turned to Hermione's father, who had seen what his daughter had done. A few minutes later the parents came over and collected their children. The group walked a few blocks to the Granger's home._

_Once inside everyone sat down around the couch and placed the children on the floor. The four toddlers began to play with some toys that were lying around. Harry and Hazel clasped hands and a lazy circle of stuffed animals and toys began to rotate and bob around the four. Hermione's parents looked on in amazement._

"_This is what we wanted to talk to you about, Joel," Lily said. Hermione's father nodded and looked at Lily, expecting a prompt explanation from the girl he had half-raised._

"_Oh, don't give me that look," Lily muttered. "You may have helped your sister baby sit Petunia and me more oft than not but I'm not a little kid anymore."_

_Lily shifted and looked him in the eye, "Do you remember when I went off to a special boarding school."_

"_Yes, you were eleven and more excited about going off to school than any child I had ever seen before," the man now identified as Joel replied._

"_Well, the school was a little more special than you may have thought," Lily continued. "I went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your daughter is a witch. She can use magic. What she did with the sand castle was magic."_

"_And what does she have to pay to go to this school?" Joan, as Hermione's mother had been introduced, asked. "Her life, soul?"_

"_Oh no, no," Lily assured. "No, most of the non-magical, or Muggle, people's legends about all magic being evil and paying with your soul to learn are greatly exaggerated. There are good wizards and bad wizards, just like there are good Muggles and bad Muggles. You pay the school with money and she'll learn things like how to make stuff hover, clean things, repair things, transfigure things, and defend herself. She'll also learn about astronomy and history of magic. The school doesn't teach any of the type of magic that you would be worried about, they only teach how to defend against it."_

"_Although I haven't known you long, Joan, I have known your husband for a very long time and I can't imagine that Hermione would grow up to be interested in the kind of magic you would be concerned about, which we call dark magic. In fact, I imagine that she'd grow up to be interested in defending against it and helping people, if you and your husband's personalities and values are anything to go by."_

"_Okay, thank you," Joan smiled at her._

_Joel wrapped an arm around his wife and pressed a kiss to her temple. He turned to Lily and asked, "Is there anything we should teach her in preparation for Hogwarts, or anything that someone else should teach her?"_

"_The people who will come and explain it to you on her 11th birthday would say no. That's when she'll start Hogwarts is when she's 11. I, however, would go ahead and teach her as much about herbs and plants that you can. There are a number of Muggle herbs and plants that are used in potions, but they aren't covered much in herbology classes. There are also a number of magical plants that have Muggle cousins and she may have an easier time with herbology if she already has a good grasp on different herbs and plants. I would especially focus on herbs and plants that are useful in cooking and medicine."_

"_Other than that, there's not much else she needs that isn't covered somewhat in primary schools. She'll really be ahead of a lot of the wizard raised children if she goes to primary school because there are many wizard children who don't have a good grasp on the basic maths, grammar, reading, or writing skills that are very beneficial to doing well in Hogwarts. Make sure that she has some fundamentals in Latin, at least. That will help out with identifying and using spells correctly."_

"_Greek mythology and Celtic mythology would also be good to cover. While most of the stories are made up, they hold a grain of truth in them about some things. I think the Greek myth of Zeus came about because a wizard who was a partial elemental, he could control only lightning, went a bit insane and started using that power anywhere and anytime, especially on people who he felt did wrong. The Celtic myths about trees and nature have a little bit of truth in them about the magic that nature holds. Knowing those myths would be beneficial when she begins learning about the actual circumstances that birthed those myths."_

"_That's about all, really," Lily finished up._

"_There are really elementals?" Joel looked awed._

"_Yes, there are," Alice answered. "But there's something else we have to tell you now."_

_James, Lily, Joel, and Joan turned to look where Alice and Frank were looking. Neville and Hermione had their palms clasped, their foreheads touching. A bright lilac light engulfed the two babies as they sat that way. Joel and Joan moved to get their daughter, James and Lily held the worried parents back._

"_It's okay, it's okay," Lily tried to calm them. James took over, "This is unexpected but it's not hurting either child. In fact, it may be very beneficial to them in the future. That light you see is the activation of what we call a Soul Twin Bond. Sometimes two magical people who aren't born to the same family or even on the same day will have a close bond that is a twin bond. They have this bond from the time that the younger of the pair is born. When the two people first meet the bond will be activated. That lilac light signifies the activation of the bond."_

"_What does that mean for them?" Joan queried._

"_It simply means that they have a bond similar to James and Lily's children, who are born twins. How it affects them depends on a couple of things, the strength of the bond, the strength of their individual magic, and how often they see each other," Frank began to explain. "The weakest twin bond allows each twin to know when the other is extremely upset, frightened, angry, ill, or hurt. The strongest of twin bonds will allow twins to communicate with each other telepathically over virtually any distance, share their magic with each other to make spells stronger, or even to show the other what they are seeing or hearing at that time."_

"_The strength of the bond depends on how powerful the children's individual magic is, how often they see each other, and how close they are emotionally. The more they see each other, then the closer they will be emotionally. They are both powerful children for them to have episodes of accidental magic this early, which I know all four children have," Alice added._

"_Well, that sounds pretty good for them, then," Joan mused. "They'll always have a best friend to rely on or talk to. I always wished for that when I was growing up."_

_Suddenly, James and Frank began to laugh. Lily looked at them like they were going insane and James just pointed. Everyone turned to look at the children again and saw that the four babies had managed to change each others hair colours (bright pink on Harry, violent chlorine blue on Hazel, sickly green on Neville, and bright orange on Hermione), conjured bubbles that were stuck to their outfits and skin, and vines had somehow managed to grow around their arms and legs. The adults collapsed in laughter at the picture they made. _

"POP" a crack sounded just as the memory was over.

* * *

Please review, 

I would love some ideas for what sorts of things the group should learn. What shoud be in the training?

Who should be pranked next?  
Sean

Kalliope

Dracula

Other

What should the prank be?

any ideas are welcome

Please Review and let me know


	6. A Hidden Trunk

Hey everyone,

I think this chapter could be better; it's mainly going over a bit of history to set up for the rest of the story. I may edit it further and add some stuff to this chapter and update it next week, but I wanted to give you guys something this week. I will probably update about every 10 days from now on, so that I can make the chapters longer and have enough time to edit them. I will put prospective update dates on my profile, which will be updated once a week on Saturdays to keep everyone up to date.

Disclaimer: The usual, Jo owns it all. C. S. Lewis owns the Pevensies and Narnia. Some ideas are taken from well known legends and fairy tales. Anything you don't recognize and the plot, are mine.

* * *

New characters introduced last chapter: 

1. **Belle Pevensie**: Peter's wife.

2. **Ariel Pevensie: **Edmund's wife.

3. **Dracula Entdraught: **Lucy's husband. Writes under the name of Bram Stoker.

4. **Jiihio Niphredil:** Joethe's husband.

5. **Miajorsi Tinuviel:** Healer apprentice to Belle.

6. **Zatiar Rohan:** Master apprentice to Miajorsi.

7.** Harish Isha:** Auror.

8. **Oriana Cotton: **Auror.

9. **Sean Crispus: **Auror.

10. **Kalliope Ichigo: **Auror.

* * *

Most of the group whipped their heads around to see who had entered the chamber. Harry, Hazel, Hermione, and Neville calmly turned to gaze at the house-elf who had just arrived. 

This particular house-elf was obviously different from his peers. He was slightly taller and more human looking. His ears were less pointy and his large eyes not quite as bulging as normal house-elves, though they were still an odd lavender-grey colour that is not a human trait. Cleanly pressed brown linen trousers and a purple tunic hung neatly on his frame.

A strange crest was on the left breast of the tunic; it held a tree-like stag creature with stones for hooves, giant eagle-looking birds with fluttering feathers and a whirlwind below its claws, a magnificent dragon that looked like fire personified, and a strange creature that looked like a cross between a snake, bird, and sea horse with water lapping in and around it. The creatures were intertwined with each other and forming the border along the shield. A sword and magical staff crossed in the center of the shield. The back of the tunic was covered with a large silver picture of a beautiful unicorn.

"Hello Wyler," Neville greeted the creature.

Wyler bowed and said, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, young masters and mistresses. May I bring you anything for lunch?"

"Yes, please," Hazel replied. "We already gave a menu to Soldrei, just go to the kitchens and see if she is finished. If she is not then we will wait until she is, there is no need for you to rush. Just let us know how long it will take, please."

"Also, Wyler, we would like to be called by our names. He is Harry, that's Hazel, I'm Hermione, and this is Neville."

"Yes, Mistress Hermione," the elf said and popped away. He popped back a few seconds later and addressed the group again.

"Soldrei says that lunch will be another half an hour. Is there anything I can get for you in the meantime?"

"No thank you, Wyler. If you could simply begin to start on the rooms, it would be greatly appreciated. I left a list in the Fire Room, it details what we would like done for rooms for everyone," Harry answered.

"I will begin with it right away, Master Harry," Wyler popped away again.

"Okay, what does everyone want to do until lunch?" Harry spoke up.

"I would like to begin by telling everyone about us," Peter (Pevensie) spoke up. "And I think the Founders' ghosts want to broach the subject of their pasts with everyone today."

The four spectral beings nodded in response.

"That sounds good," Hermione mused. "We can start on the Founders' pasts this afternoon. We don't want to show you too many memories in one day because it will be a lot to take in, so we'll probably show you memories until about 3:00. At 3:00 the Founders' can begin their tales. You four can give us a brief overview of your tales right now, and add more detail when you feel it is needed."

"Sounds good to me," Lucy nodded. She looked to Edmund, Peter, and Joethe. After a few seconds, Edmund gave a resigned sigh and leaned back in his chair. He wrapped his arm around Ariel and began playing with her hair.

"Alright, since the others feel that I'm the best at giving concise but still informative explanations, I'll be telling you guys about us."

"First off, Peter, Lucy, Joethe and I are from the same world that Harry, Hazel, Hermione and Neville are from. Peter is the oldest, he was born in 1855. Lucy and I were born in 1861 and Joethe was born in 1858. Most of our adventures were in the third world that is the last of the trio of worlds that this one belongs in. We believe that it is impossible for someone from either White Earth or Gold Night to travel to the other without first having been to Narnia."

"The Muggle books on Narnia by C. S. Lewis have quite a few true stories held within them, but he also made up a majority of the books. He and Tolkien were similar in those respects; they simply did this with two different topics. Lewis, however, included our most prominent undertaking in the Narnia verse, changing it to suit his needs. Our biggest adventure actually happened first in White Earth and then here in Gold Night. There was an up and coming dark lord, who was part Elven that we had to defeat in both worlds. We were able to do so in both worlds before he got too powerful in either magic or followers."

"All four of us are at least part-Elf, thus we will live for a very long time. Usually, we would already have gone to Narnia to remain there until we die, but these four are the youngest four who have had to come to this world. Therefore, we are here to help them and guide them, and that is also why we were able to share dreams with them across the two worlds."

"We have shared dreams with all four, but Harry and Hazel were much more willing to believe us real and not figments of their subconscious. Both Neville and Hermione have been to Narnia, but not for nearly as long as Harry and Hazel were there, and not as many times, either."

"Our other job, in both worlds, was to investigate a certain contemporary of ours and keep him from gaining too much power. We were not able to remove his influence fully, because we did not have as much political or financial power as his family did at that time. Harry, Hazel, Hermione, and Neville have already taken steps to remove his counterpart from power in the world of White Earth; they will probably do so here as well since all four have more political, financial, and magical power on their own than practically anyone else in the Wizarding world, and possibly most in the Elven, Faerian, and Muggle worlds, as well."

"All four of those children are heirs of all Four Founders and the Camelot Four by blood. Each one has also been chosen as primary magical heir of at least one person from each of those groups and are secondary magical heirs to a few others. There is much you could learn from them and us, if you are willing to."

Everyone looked rather bemused and Neville was looking vindicated. Nev turned to Hermione and said, "I told you so, Mina. Ha ha, it wasn't a dream. I was right."

Mina looked at him and stuck out her tongue, "You can't blame me for thinking it's a dream. I've wanted to go to Narnia since I first read the books as a little girl and it was rather hard to believe I'd actually gotten there."

"I have a question," Chit spoke up, effectively avoiding a fight. Peter nodded and Chit continued, "Who are the Camelot Four?"

"The Camelot Four are Merlin Emrys Lailoken Ambrosius, Morgaine Nimue Vivienne Le Faye, Arthur Riothamus Tristan Pendragon, and Robyn Maeve Loxley. Robyn was actually a girl; legends changed her to a boy because Muggles at the time would not have accepted a female hero of that sort. In fact, most magical people wouldn't have either," Peter answered.

"There's a lot of supposed history about those four that is very incorrect. We have books written by them and contemporaries of theirs. These books have been preserved and are a few of the great many that will not be allowed out of the library. They are among the selection of books that Rowena personally acquired and are not included in the collection at Pisa. There are some more modern summaries of the information in those books and information on the Founders; we expect each of you to read those books. It is important to know what truly happened, so that you can avoid or prevent some of those things from happening again."

"Now, however," Hazel interrupted with a smile, "it is time for lunch."

* * *

After lunch was finished everyone sat back down in the Great Room. 

"Now, Hazel and I are going to be starting with some memories from when we're young. The first memories start when we're four and we're cleaning out the attic in our Aunt and Uncle's house. You'll see it from Hazel's point of view first and then you'll see it from Hazel's point of view," Harry explained.

Images appeared on the screen as everyone settled themselves more comfortably.

_An image of a small attic crowded with boxes appeared. Two small children were standing together, pushing a box out of the way so that they could sweep and dust. The children coughed as dust clouds rose when the box was moved. Both of the small windows in the attic had been opened but allowed for little ventilation. A neglected wooden trunk was revealed when the box was moved. Four buttons were on the top._

_The tiny little girl, whom most would assume to be one and a half or two (not her actual age of four), wiped the top of the trunk off with a rag. Two names in an unknown language were etched across the top in a flowing script. The child pressed her hand to the first button and the trunk lid popped open. Two yellowed envelopes were on top of piles of books. The names 'Alex' and 'Aidan' were written across the envelopes in an elegant, masculine script._

_Dear Alex,_

_This is your Dad writing now. We are in hiding with you and your brother at the moment. You are 12 months old as I write this and I know you are 4 as you read it. The first thing I want you to know is that your mum and I love you very much. We knew our lives would be sacrificed that you and your brother might live. There is no better reason to die than to protect you and give you my love sacrifice, my blood protection._

_You may ask: how do I know these things?_

_Well, I need to explain to you about what different types of Empaths there are before you will understand._

_Empaths are people who can feel other people's emotions. There are general Empaths who can only feel and project emotions. There are also three special kinds of Empaths. These three special kinds are (I listed them in order of most common to most rare):_

_Beast Empaths: These Empaths are able to pick up on the emotions of animals but not humans._

_Empathic Legilimens: These Empaths will 'see' the memories associated with the feelings people have. They immediately see a person's memories associated with strong feelings--such as hate, love, pain, and anger—whenever they first meet a person. (You are this kind of Empath and you need to learn something called Occlumency to help you shield yourself from other people's memories, especially before you ever have to go out into a crowd. There are books in this trunk that are on Occlumency.)_

_Empathic Seers: These Empaths will see moments of someone's future that are associated with strong feelings (how strong the feelings have to be depends on how strong the Empath is). The only exception is that Seers can't See something that directly involves themselves._

_I am an Empathic Seer. I Saw that you two would be living with your Aunt and Uncle—that alone makes me want to tear Albus's throat out right now, justice be damned._

_Ow—Lily, did you have to do that._

_Yes (the script changed to a decidedly feminine cursive). Watch your language. Alex, honey, don't follow your father's example and curse, it is crude and uncivilized._

_Alright, now that I've wrestled the quill back from your mother I will continue._

_I knew that you two would have to clean the attic sometime when you are four. So, Lily and I have created this trunk to leave at her sister's house for you and your brother to find. This trunk contains our journals from Hogwarts and afterwards, our school books, our training books for our jobs, a number of other books in subjects we think you should study, my parents' wands, some potions' ingredients, and a number of other things we thought might come in handy for you, Aidan, and David._

_No, you and your brother's names are not Alex and Aidan, but it would be dangerous for you to know your real names quite yet. Therefore, everything in this trunk that is written to you will use your chosen names, Alex and Aidan. We will also use David's name which you chose for him as it is the one he prefers and we would be rude to do otherwise. Your birth certificates and legal documents for both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds are contained in this trunk but you will not find them until you are about 7 or 8._

_Oh, yes, there is such a thing as magic. The odd things you and your brother cause are magic. David is magical as well. There is a Wizarding world and there are a few history books in here that go into it. Not all of these history books are completely truthful so read them with an eye to what is unsaid. _

_Muggles are non-magical folk like your aunt and uncle._

_Okay, the other thing you must know is that your mother and I are both Unspeakables. We have cover jobs, me as a Dragon handler and your mother as a Charms specialist for Gringott's (the wizard bank). We are currently investigating someone who has been seen as a hero of the Wizarding world for many years now. He has quite a lot of political and monetary power, but there are a number of Unspeakables who suspect he might not be as pure as he makes himself out to be. Your mother and I have found that he has done a lot of things that are downright illegal and cruel. However, it will take much more evidence than what we have to get the majority of the Wizarding world, especially in Britain, to admit that he did not just make a mistake but purposefully hurt another. It will take the revealing of his machinations against you two, and one of your friends from when you were little, for the Wizarding world to properly punish him._

_Use our journals and notes to help you find more evidence against him. Put him away so that he'll never be able to hurt another child again. If you can't get him put away legally then you may have to resort to dispatching him illegally, do that ONLY as a last resort. However, if you have to do it illegally, then do it, he cannot be allowed to harm another child as he has so many of the Hogwarts students in the past 100 years._

_Remember that Mum and I love you and we always will. Live up to your chosen name, Alex. Protect your brother and cousin, but live life. Learn and grow and get yourselves out of that hellhole._

_I love you, my little Nayaird, my water snake,_

_Dad (James Tiberius Potter)_

_P.S.—The trunk is enchanted so that only you and Aidan can see it and open it. The first two compartments are storage. Small suites are in the last two compartments. Anyone can enter the trunk with you as long as you are physically holding onto them. You can allow your cousin to see the trunks by placing a small drop (a pinprick on the finger will do) onto the rune carved onto the lid of the trunk and saying the following: "I, as an owner and keeper of this trunk, do hereby give my cousin, who has chosen the name of David, permission to see this trunk."_

_------------------------------------------------ _

_Hello my little siren,_

_Since your father has covered all of the serious topics (very odd for him, indeed), I'll cover the more fun ones._

_Okay, first things first, you play as many pranks as possible on your Aunt and Uncle before you leave for good. You make sure they get what's coming to them. Give them one in the teeth just for me. Oh, and I included some prank ideas to use on your Aunt, Uncle, and the Old Bee in my last journal. Feel free to use any of those ideas._

_Use your sneakiness well, my Siren. Give your Uncles Moony and Padfoot a run for their money with your ability to get in trouble. Don't prank people unless they deserve it or it is just a harmless, non-humiliating kind of prank. Make friends and help your brother and cousin. You are their alpha (their leader) and they will follow you._

_Don't forget to let yourself be a girl, occasionally, hmm. Make some girl friends and get all girly over boys and dresses and make-up. Annoy your brother with the boyfriends you have, but don't pick bad ones._

_Learn as much as you can to protect yourself and your pack, but have fun with your knowledge, too. Show Hogwarts what a prank war really is. And show Hogwarts what Hogwarts House relations were really like during the Founders time and even how they were up until the Old Bee started manipulating everything. Teach everyone how to work together again._

_Oh, and honey, use those artistic talents of yours, hone them well. You got that talent from me, your dad's the one that sings well and he's the one that cooks as well. _

_Live well, get justice (and revenge when you can), and have fun._

_Love you little siren, my little naiad,_

_Mum (Lily Felina Evans Potter)_

"This next part is from my point of view," Harry informed the group as the scene continued.

_Hello my little Tinéan,_

_This is your mom writing right now. Your sister is reading your father's letter to her first and then the second letter to her is from me. The second letter to you is from your dad. I'm writing about the serious stuff with you while your dad is writing about the serious stuff in his letter to Alex._

_We know the names you chose for yourselves because your dad is an Empathic Seer. He is explaining that in his letter to Alex so just ask her about it once you finish. Basically, it means that he knew that you two would be sent to my sister and her husband against the express wishes and statement of our will._

_The first two compartments of this trunk have a lot of books and supplies you will need in order to get rid of the Old Bee and start the Wizarding World onto the path to recovery. Yes, there is such a thing as magic and, yes, there is a Wizarding World. You and Alex should begin with the history books we've picked out, as well as our journals and school books from when we were in Hogwarts. School books are organized by the year we used them in and journals are organized chronologically. My journals are the ones with the purple strip across the spines and your dad's are the ones with the gold strips._

_We have also included a number of books that were not any of our school books at Hogwarts. These books all have gray spots on their spines. They are divided by subject (books in a certain subject will all have the same colour covers) and the order we think you should read them in. The small strips on the spine show that order. You should read the ones with a white strip first, yellow strip second, orange strip third, then red, then green, then purple, then blue, then silver, then gold. Not all subjects will have that many books, so don't worry. Start with the Occlumency and Meditation books as soon as possible._

_You also need to read as many healing books as possible because you are a powerful natural Healer. The books can explain what that is better than I can. You are also a multi-beast speaker. That ability is something you get from me. So far, you can speak to all birds, all snakes, and magical horses. You can probably speak to more, we just haven't learned about those yet._

_The different languages used to speak to certain type of animals are called:_

_Parsel: the language of snakes. Someone who speaks to snakes is called a Parseltongue and people in the last two centuries have held and furthered the belief that all Parseltongues are evil. Keep this ability of yours secret until such a time as you can prove that this belief is wrong._

_Avcant: the language of birds. Phoenixes and the two types of elemental birds (air and fire) speak both this language and a unique language called Magives._

_Serloqui: the language of dragons._

_Beast speaking: general term which refers to any of the other animals that a beast speaker may be able to communicate with. Different beast speakers have different amounts and types of animals that they can speak with. This term encompasses every other type of animal and the people who can speak with them._

_Learn well, get justice, and love well. Help your sister and listen to her. She is your alpha and according to James she will be an excellent one until such a time as she meets her mate, who will then become the alpha._

_I love you, Aidan, my little Tinéan,_

_Mum (Lily Felina Evans Potter)_

_----------------------------------------- _

_Dear Aidan,_

_Your mum and I have covered all the serious stuff in the first letters. Now, learn as much as you can so that you can pull off some major pranks and continue the Marauder tradition. The Marauders are me, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew (Please cut Peter out of the group). There's a hidden cubby in the bedroom of the third compartment. In this cubby are all of the journals from the Marauders' days in Hogwarts. Included in these journals are plans, outlines, and outcomes of all the pranks my friends and I played at Hogwarts. _

_Also included is a map of Hogwarts that your mum and I made. Our friends are unaware of this map and your mum and I only started making it in 7th year. We finished one year after we finished school. This map shows all of the secret passageways, little used corridors, and hidden rooms that your mother and I knew of by the time we were 18, which is quite a bit._

_Find your Uncles Moony and Padfoot for us. Take off all of the charms and things the Old Bee did to them. Please do the same for Severus Snape as well, and tell him that I'm sorry. I never meant any of what I said or did to him starting in 5th year. The Bee did some sort of spell on me before that year and I tried to fight it but I was not powerful enough then. _

_Give Moony and Padfoot grey hairs from worry and teach Moony what werewolves really are. Have a few girlfriends but not too many. Treat girls right and don't go out with shallow girls. It is much more fun to date someone who can hold a meaningful conversation with you than someone who is only about appearances. Go on adventures, get dirty playing in the mud, scare your teachers with the flying stunts you pull, and have FUN!_

_I love you, little Firewings,_

_Dad (James Tiberius Potter)_

_Once the two children finished their letters they switched letters with each other. After they finished reading the other's letters they stared at each other with disbelieving looks on their faces. _

"_Well," Hazel/Alex quietly began, "I guess we need to look up some of these words in D's dictionary. I understand most of what these letters mean but I don't know some of the words."_

"_Yeah, but we do know what our parents' names are now," Harry/Aidan mused. "We can read all we can about this 'Wizarding world' from their books. Once we have more knowledge of the Wizarding world we can try and find out information on our parents' deaths and their wills. We should find out who is executor of the will and who is listed as candidates for guardians. I get the feeling from the letters that Aunt and Uncle are not on that list."_

"_I know me too. That means that whoever put us here did so illegally."_

_The two children stared into the other's eyes with looks of sadness and understanding that no four-year-old should ever have._

"_Right," Hazel began again. "We need to keep cleaning the attic. We can take the trunk down to the cupboard with us, since AP and UV can't see it. We can stash it in the little cubby behind the third step._

"_Also, we need to start on a plan to get us out of here. I don't think that whoever the government is in the WW can detect the magic we do. I think someone would have come to check out why we do so much magic that fights off attackers if they could. So, we can practice magic here and in the woods near the school."_

_Harry nodded as he continued pushing boxes to a different area of the room. He spoke up as he began to sweep that corner, "We also need to make some money and find a place to go. We're just kids so we can't make enough to pay for our own house or loft. We'll need somewhere else to go."_

"_Okay," Hazel considered. She was now wiping all the boxes off and checking their contents. She wrote words on the outside of the boxes with a permanent marker. As she was working she said, "We need a list of things to do. First, we need to read all the books in the trunk. Second, we need to practice our magic, which we can do as we read the books on how to do magic. Third, we need to save money. Fourth, we need to find a place to live away from AP and UV."_

"_And we need to figure out how we're going to handle learning normal school subjects, how we will get clothes, and how we will get stuff to keep clean and brush our teeth," Harry added._

"_School will be the trickiest out of that," Hazel replied. "Getting stuff to keep us clean and brush our teeth should be okay as long as we have enough money saved up. We can read books on how to make clothes and use magic to make our own clothes."_

_Harry nodded and said, "I think we should go to school for one year, next year. We need to go so we can learn what sort of subjects they teach in school. Then, we will know what kind of books to get from the library and use our magic to copy them. Also, we can read books in the school library for that year. That way we can read some books that aren't at the neighborhood library."_

The scene faded out and the group looked around at each other.

"Instead of showing you what we found out about Dumbledore from our parents' journals we are just going to tell you an abbreviated list of what they had found," Hazel began.

Hermione took over, "Some of the first things they found out was that Dumbledore did a lot of apprentice work from the age of 18-19 to the around 30-35. He did a lot of traveling during that time and made a lot of influential acquaintances. Mum and Dad found that the way he made those acquaintances was underhanded at best and downright illegal at worst. He had blackmail material on a number of influential politicians and lawmakers in the British Isle. People on the mainland generally would not have anything to do with him, so he had less ammunition against foreign politicians than native ones."

"He used the blackmail material he had to force politicians to make the restriction on underage wizards. Dumbledore wanted the restriction because your magic is like a muscle that needs constant exercise and use for it to grow and strengthen. Not using magic for two months out of the summer considerably weakens people."

"Most purebloods get around this rule by using an ancestor's wand. The tracking charms are on the wands and not the people. Dumbledore, once he became headmaster, illegally puts a potion in the students' drinks all throughout the first week. The potion he uses is a tracking potion on the person. It is illegal to do that tracking potion unless it is prescribed by a healer."

"However, before Dumbledore became headmaster or even began to teach," Neville butted in with a look at Hermione, "he used blackmail material to force through a number of other laws that probably would not have gone through otherwise. Some of those laws inflicted stronger restrictions on werewolves, vampires, veelas, and centaurs. Dumbledore had a number of politicians began smear campaigns against those types of beings, telling lies about their families being attacked, etc. He planted the idea that Muggleborns were better off dead. Most pureblood families before that might have had the prejudice against Muggleborns but never would have suggested ostracizing Muggleborns from magical society. Most neutral and light oriented pureblood families would have balked at the idea of ostracizing anyone with magical abilities from magical society, regardless of their ancestry or race. Dumbledore is the one who subtly began to further the prejudices against Muggleborns and many types of sentient creatures."

"Also," Harry added, "Dumbledore began dropping the idea that Salazar was evil. Most stories or histories of the Founders' in our world were pretty bare and incomplete. All people in the 1800s knew was that the Founders' started Hogwarts and there was a war going on during the Founders' time. Dumbledore began the rumours that the war was actually with Salazar and that he was evil. Dumbledore is the one who introduced the prejudice against students in Slytherin house and he is the one who began the house rivalries between all four. When Dumbledore first started teaching he picked out and spelled the leading students in each of the four houses and forced them to hate each other, all the other students just kind of followed along with those rivalries. If it looks like students will break the mold of the house rivalries then he spells those students to force them to hate each other."

"In the 1940s, Dumbledore allowed a student here to abuse the other students in his house. It was a Slytherin student and the Slytherin head of house at the time was actually Dumbledore. The other students complained, but Dumbledore flat out told some of them that they should 'stop whining and get over it'. One of the students' that was picked on most was a half-blood and he lived in an orphanage. He went to Dumbledore and told the teacher about the physical and sexual abuse at the orphanage and how the older student at Hogwarts had raped him. Dumbledore told him he was a weakling and if he couldn't fight the people off on his own then he deserved it. The child was 12 years old when Dumbledore rebuffed him."

Harry took a deep breath and continued, "That child's name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He started a plan in his 3rd year to build an orphanage for magical children from any kind of bloodline. The orphanage would take in orphans and children whose living situations were less than desirable. Dumbledore got wind of these plans and began using dark compulsion curses and potions on Tom to force the boy down a different path.

"As the years went by, the dark compulsions began to corrupt Tom's soul more and more. You now know this young man as Lord Voldemort."

Hazel pulled out her wand and spelled out Tom's full name. With a wave of her wand the letters rearranged themselves to say 'I am Lord Voldemort'.

"Dumbledore did kill Grindelwald in the '40s," Hazel picked up the explanations. "He, however, was part of the reason why Grindelwald went dark. Grindelwald's real name was Ardal Dumbledore. He was Albus Dumbledore's younger cousin by 5 years and he tried to tell people that Albus was twisted and evil, but no one would listen to him. He studied the dark arts to find a way to kill his cousin, but he was sucked into the allure of the dark arts. Each time he used the dark arts a piece of his soul would die or be ripped away and he would become less of a man, eventually he needed to cause pain, suffering, and harm so much that he really was no longer Ardal but was Grindelwald."

"Dumbledore wanted the fame again, wanted to feel powerful and important. So he created another dark lord to contend with. When there was a prophecy about four children who would be the only ones to defeat the dark lord, he did his best to find those four children and make them his pawns. In that way, he would be heralded as their teachers and the only reason why they defeated Voldemort."

Neville took over at this point, "He knew that Peter Pettigrew was the Potter's Secret Keeper. Dumbledore pushed Crouch, Sr. to send Sirius to Azkaban without a trial or Dumbledore would reveal that Crouch, Sr. had had an affair. He placed Harry and Hazel with their Aunt and Uncle, because he knew they would be abused at their Aunt and Uncle's. He bound my magic, after the attack on my parents and me. He also bound Harry and Hazel's magic. He spelled my grandmother to force her to be abusive towards me. Grandmum managed to fight it enough that she was only really a bit neglectful and a little emotionally abusive, but she never hit me. My great-uncle, however, was abusive and Dumbledore encouraged my great-uncle's behavior. I'd rather not know what he would have done if he'd found out about Hermione."

Hermione nodded, "I'd rather not know other. Some of the other things that Dumbledore did to people in our parents' generation were quite atrocious as well. He paid Fenrir Greyback to bite a number of children. He took Remus as a student so that they could use a spell to harvest his sperm once he hit puberty and then spell him to be impotent. He used the sperm to do a lot of experiments that were sickening. He cast imperio on a boy to make him rape two girls. After doing that he was able to blackmail that boy into doing anything and successfully made the two girls wish to go to another school, thus keeping them from bonding with their soul mates. He started using spells James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter during 5th year to make them treat Severus horribly. He forced Severus to become a spy by threatening to kill all of Severus friends if he refused to spy. He raped a first year himself. That was when James and Lily were in 7th year. Both of them were beginning to fight Dumble's spells and potions by then and had suspicions about the man. They were the only two who helped the girl."

"Dumbledore has also had secrecy spells on all of the staff so that they couldn't speak or write about their suspicions to anyone else. He has spelled a lot of them to dislike and distrust each other."

Hazel allowed the group to have a few minutes to think about what they had just learned. Chit looked her in the eye.

"He is the one who made us stay with my biological father, isn't he?" Chit asked.

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "Dumbledore somehow managed to force Peter and his mum to stay with Geoffrey Pettigrew."

"The Dumbledore here has already done all of the things to the staff and students that you mentioned the Dumble in your universe did," James began, "but he hasn't been able to spell us to hate each other."

"Dumbledore did also do all of the things to Riddle and to force through those laws that you mentioned," Diana spoke up.

The four children shared a look.

"We thought he might have," Hazel gently replied. "We've begun contacting a few people that we're absolutely sure can help us find more against him. We plan on ousting his real personality to the general public sometime before this school year starts. Tom Riddle in our world was too far gone for us to help him; he wouldn't have survived the extreme measure needed to cleanse his soul and magic. The Tom Riddle here is 20 years younger and there is still hope that his soul and magic can be cleansed and he can become the man he would have if not for the Old Bee's interference. We want to get rid of Dumbledore as soon as possible so we can end this war."

"That sounds like a start to me," Peter piped in. "However, you're going to need help dealing with the death eaters, since quite a few of them voluntarily joined and really do think all Muggles and Muggleborns should be eradicated. That means that you need to train everyone here. I'm going to assume you also want to bring back some of the Old Traditions from the Founders' time?"

The four teens nodded their heads.

"Okay, let's get all of you settled with the books that go over the real history of that time. The first step in getting yourself prepared for a battle means learning the reasons the battle is waging in the first place."

With that, Peter and his group got all of the adults and teens settled with history books on the Camelot Four and the Four Founders. He had each of them focus on a certain subject and take notes on it so they could all share notes together and learn the most important facts more quickly.

Peter and his friends rejoined Harry, Hermione, Hazel and Neville and began to make plans.


	7. Treehouses

Hi everyone,

I am so sorry for the long wait. These past weeks have been a lot more hectic than I expected. Also, I'm sorry for the short chapter but I have hit a writer's block and I thought you all might like something, at least. Hopefully the next chapter will be up in the next couple of weeks, but I'm not promising anything definite. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. All the stuff you don't recognize is mine.

Enjoy

* * *

**July 5, 1975- Evening**

"Alright, I'm sick of this," Sean threw the book down on the table. "What the heck has this got to do with beating You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort," Hazel scathingly replied. "It's just a name, you fool. How can you lot expect to fight against him if you can't even say his name. Voldemort, Voldemort, VOLDEMORT. Say it four times fast in the middle of the night with no candles burning and what happens? Nothing. He can't magically hear you say his name and then appear. Inside these rooms we expect each of you to say Voldemort, though I would prefer you use his real name, Tom Riddle. You lot should get used to thinking about his circumstances in light of the knowledge that he was most likely manipulated into being what he is now."

Hazel took a deep breath and moved her hands off the table where she had slammed them down. She turned to Harry and nodded to him. Harry walked toward Sean's table and carefully picked up the book he had been reading, _Avalon and Camelot: the Real Story_, he checked the book over and carefully set it back down.

"First of all," Harry seethed, piercing Sean with a glare that made the man move as far back in his chair as possible, "if I see any of you treating the books in these chambers in such a disrespectful way again then I will personally acquaint you with some of the more _interesting_ curses in my repertoire.

"Second, raw power is one thing, but it doesn't do much good to have the power without the knowledge. The loss of the old ways is a big part of the reason for the war we're currently in. You can't understand the workings of the war without understanding the history behind it, which includes this information. If you don't understand the reasons for a war then you will be unable to form a plausible plan to win the war.

"Third, Merlin, Morgaine, Arthur, and Robyn were the most powerful wizards and witches of their age, in both raw power and knowledge. Reading about their exploits is one of the best ways to learn ancient magic, which is alluded to and outright talked about in these history books. Likewise, Godric, Rowena, Salazar, and Helga were also the most powerful witches and wizards of their time, again in both raw power and knowledge. Books on the history of the Founders also allude to or outright discuss magic which has been lost for hundreds of years.

"These books are as old as the stories they tell. There are a number of protection and preserving spells on the books, but we still expect you to treat the books nicely. Don't slam them, don't rip out pages (there's a hex on the books that will cut you if you even try that), don't throw them on the floor, don't eat while you're reading them, don't have food or drink near them. In short, don't do something that can hurt these books. Got it?"

When no one answered the temperature in the room began to drop and wind whipped through the air. Harry's eyes narrowed at Sean and then encompassed the rest of the room.

"Got it?" he repeated through gritted teeth.

"Yes, sir," the majority of the room answered. Sean immediately nodded, not being able to speak. Instantly, the power blanketing the room was pulled back in and the temperature returned to normal. Harry turned around and sat back down. Hazel, Hermione, and Neville shared a smirk.

"Come on, everyone," Neville stood up, "it's time for supper. You can tell us about what you looked up while we're eating. Who had the topic of the special abilities of the Founders' and the Camelot Four?"

"I had Camelot," Ryan spoke up.

Frank chimed in, "I had the Founders."

"Okay, Ryan, you go first."

"Merlin was a multi-Elemental with water as his dominant element; he was a multi-Animagus with 5 known forms; a Seer; a Magives speaker; and Telekinetic. His affinities were wandless casting, spellweaving, alchemy, potions, and staff fighting.

"Morgaine was a multi-Elemental with her dominant element being air; a Shapeshifter; an Omni-beast speaker; and a Shadow-walker. Her affinities were dancing, creatures, transfigurations, and dagger fighting.

"Arthur was a multi-Elemental and his strongest was fire; a multi-Animagus with 3 known forms; a Beast Empath; a Telepath; and a Hypnotist. His affinities were mind magics, defense, sword and unarmed fighting.

"Robyn was a multi-Elemental with her dominant element being earth; a Natural Healer; an Entspeaker; and a Ghostwalker. Her affinities were plants, potions, and bow and arrows."

"Very good," Harry praised. The young boy blushed and nodded as he began to pile his plate with food.

"Okay," Hazel said, "it's your turn Frank."

"Godric was the blood heir of both Arthur and Morgaine but was magical heir of Arthur. He was a multi-Elemental with fire as the strongest element; a Shapeshifter; an Omni-beast speaker; and a Telepath. His affinities were mind magics, creatures, mosaics and sculptures, staff and unarmed fighting.

"Rowena was the blood heir of Merlin and Morgaine but was the magical heir of Morgaine. She was a multi-Elemental with air as her dominant element; a multi-Animagus with 4 known forms; a Seer; an Avcant speaker; and an Astral-walker (someone who can project their soul away from their bodies). Her affinities were divinations, transfigurations, dancing, and bows and arrows.

"Salazar was the blood heir of Merlin and Robyn but the magical heir of Merlin. He was a multi-Elemental with his dominant one being water; an Empathic Legilimens; a Playwright; and an Invisible-man (someone who can become invisible). His affinities were with emotion magics, potions, alchemy, wandless, and sword fighting.

"Helga was the blood heir of Arthur and Robyn but the magical heir of Robyn. She was a multi-Elemental with Earth as her strongest; a multi-Animagus with 3 known forms; a Zaldire (someone who can jump into others dreams); an Entspeaker; and a Hypnotist. Her affinities were plants, music, defense, dagger and short sword fighting.

"All four of them were Oculvers, which are people who can see magic."

Hermione nodded and said, "All of the Camelot Four were also Oculvers. Well done, both of you. Based on what you all now know about the Camelot Four and the Founders, who do you think we are primary heirs of?"

"Remember we are each primary heirs of one of the Camelot Four and one of the Founders," Neville piped in.

Everyone looked around, trying to see who would make the first guess. Finally, John spoke up.

"Well, I'm absolutely certain that Neville is the primary heir of Helga, but I'm going to guess Morgaine for the other. Harry would be Godric and Arthur. Hazel would be Rowena and Merlin. Hermione I guess would be Salazar and Robyn."

All four teens snorted, Neville replied, "You're right that I am the heir of Helga, but everything else is wrong. Anyone else care to guess?"

"I think that Harry is the heir of Rowena," James spoke up. "It would fit with his reaction earlier this morning."

"Actually, all of us were quite angry that Sean would treat such a valuable book that way. Many of these books are the _only_ copies of those tomes that exist. The copying spell was only placed on the Pisa library, not on the library here. Therefore, any book that is first placed in the library here will not automatically be copied into the Pisa library. However, you are correct, Harry is the heir of Rowena," Hazel answered. "Want to try your hand at the rest of us?"

James shook his head.

"That's alright. You lot haven't really known us that long, but we expect you to be able to take a guess by the end of this week," Neville assured. "We expect _everyone_ to make a guess by the end of this week. Right now, we're teaching you about the histories and learning the differences between ours and yours. We're also going to continue going over memories with you.

"We feel that the memories we showed you today are shocking enough for some of you that we will not show anymore until tomorrow. Tomorrow we will cover up through our first year of school and possibly more. However, we are also going to start you on some of the conditioning exercises tomorrow. You have the rest of the evening as free time. Wake up call tomorrow will be at 4:00 am, we will bodily drag you out of bed if we have to and there will be no naps tomorrow, so I suggest you get plenty of sleep," Neville explained.

"James, Sirius, and Remus, you three will have special conditioning exercises for the flying lessons. Come with us and we'll start those now. If anyone else is interested in the flying lessons then feel free to come along," Harry ordered.

------------------------------------

"Ugh," James moaned.

Sirius plopped onto his part of the large mattress still set out in the Great Room for den.

"I know," Sirius moaned.

"That has to be the hardest I've ever worked at flying, and that wasn't even as long as a real Quidditch practice or game," Remus complained.

"This type of flying is a lot harder than flying for Quidditch," Hazel amusedly stated.

Harry grinned, "And you lot need to get showers before bed, Hazel and I are already done. What have you been doing?"

The three boys groaned and drug themselves out of their beds. They came back about half an hour later. Clean and dressed in pajamas, the boys dropped into their beds and immediately fell asleep, even though it was only 8:30 pm.

---------------------------------------------

"Mnhmm," a number of the group groaned and rolled over when they heard the alarm chime. Three more times the alarm chimed, by the last a couple of people had covered their heads with pillows.

The four teens exchanged a grin, each one pulling out their wands. Hazel shot feathers from her wand, directing them to tickle the victims. She added a charm to cover their hands in shaving cream and waited. A few seconds later ten people were snapping open their eyes as they smothered their faces with shaving cream.

Harry shot water at the ones with pillows covering their heads and enjoyed the sight of people jumping up and yelping from the cold. Hermione spelled gongs and bells to hover by some of their ears and go off as loudly as possible, while Neville charmed pajamas to itch and lightly bite at them until they got up.

The four teens and the eight oldest adults dissolved into laughter at the spectacle, attracting the attention of the other three who were already up and in the kitchen.

"Come on, up, up, the lot of you," Lucy pestered. "It is time to do exercises, then breakfast, then more memories."

All those who were asleep began to gather themselves. A couple of the adults were picking up clothes to change into when Neville and Hermione stopped them.

"Hold up. We need to clean all of you off, so stand still," Neville ordered. With a flick of their wands, the four teens cleaned everyone up.

Hermione added, "Also, we're going to transfigure your clothes for the exercise part. Most of you will not have the style of clothes that we prefer you to use for training. Thus, we will transfigure your clothes until we can go out to buy you some."

With another flick of their wands, the four teens transfigured everyone's clothes into loose workout pants (similar to karate gi pants), and loose t-shirts. The four teens headed down one of the hallways, everyone else following them.

"Okay," Hazel began, "these warm-up exercises will help accomplish a number of things. They will increase your flexibility, stretch your muscles so you don't get cramps, and increase your heart rate a bit to increase blood flow throughout your body."

"Please follow our examples, two of us will face you and two of us will face the same way as you. Follow whichever of the two will be easiest for you," Harry said as he began to jog in place a bit.

Halfway through the exercises, Kalliope spoke up, "I don't see how these exercises are going to help us be better Aurors."

"I thought I demonstrated that adequately enough this morning," Hazel raised her eyebrow.

"How do these exercises have anything to do with what you did to Sean this morning?" Kalliope skeptically asked. "I could have done that."

"Really?" Neville disbelievingly asked. "Well, then dodge. Stupefy."

Kalliope tried to dodge but was unable to twist far enough away. She fell to the ground with a muffled thump, courtesy of the cushioning charm Hermione had tossed at the floor in her area. Harry 'enervated' her and she stood up.

"You didn't have to demonstrate it that way, Nev," Harry was slightly scolding the other boy.

"No, I didn't have to, but she never would have seen the usefulness of the flexibility, agility, and speed training exercises if it wasn't demonstrated in a personal way. You know that her tone of voice clearly indicated that even if we had done that to someone else she wouldn't have seen the necessity of these exercises for herself."

"And they are necessary. Your boss is Mr. Potter. He agreed to the training, which means he is also doing the exercises. He probably has a number of doubts about the usefulness of these exercises right now as well, but he isn't complaining, so you lot ought to be able to hold your tongue and wait until we've really had a chance to train you before saying this stuff is pointless. It is only the first day, after all, and we're not starting the full training today, just getting the proper warm-up exercises down," Hermione added.

"Anyway, it's time for breakfast now," Hazel interrupted. "Come on, all of you."

---------------------------------------

The group all sat around the couches and mattresses for another few hours of memory viewing. Everyone was tired and sore from the exercises earlier, and full from breakfast. They settled in to see some more memories.

"This is from my point of view," Hazel explained. "Harry and I are about 5 in this; it was spring of our first year of school."

_An image of a small forest clearing came into view. Tall trees circled the clearing, creating a canopy of limbs and leaves above it. The undergrowth was so thick that an adult would have trouble getting into the clearing. Three children were gathered in a hollow in the base of one of the trees._

"_Many people are unable to do more than a weak 'Incendio' or door opening spell with wandless magic. Therefore, many people do not see the use in learning how to cast wandlessly. However, if one began to work at casting wandlessly at a young age and continued to practice through puberty (when your magic is growing along with your body), they will be able to achieve much more wandlessly. Also, continual practice will condition your body to handle the wandless magic and allow you to cast stronger spells. This book will give a practical guide to how to practice and increase your wandless magic abilities."_

"_The first step to doing wandless magic is to find your magical core. The process to find the magical core includes a fair bit of meditation and searching. It can take anywhere from one week to one year to find one's magical core. Many people will achieve this step only to quit at the next step._

"_Once someone has found their magical core, they must pull a string of that magic to their hands or another spot on the body that can be used to channel magic into the atmosphere. Hands are the easiest places to do this from but the heart, head, and feet may also be used. You must practice holding that string of magic in place, which can be very taxing, to allow magic to easily flow out of your body. After you are able to hold the string of magic in place for at least one hour without exhausting yourself, you are ready to start casting the weakest spells wandlessly._

"_To effectively increase your ability to handle wandless magic, begin by using only the 'Wingardium Leviosa' spell. Cast it for as long as you can without exhausting yourself. Depending on your magical reserve that may be anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes when you first begin. Do this ten times in a row, then rest or do physical conditioning for at least one hour. Repeat the exercise four more times for a total of five times a day. Slowly increase the amount of time you hold the spell and the weight of the object you are lifting as you begin to tire less and less when you cast it. _

"_Once you are able to cast the spell on something that weighs at least 6 stones, you may advance to the next strongest spell. Currently, that spell is 'Alohomora'. Continue practicing with the Levitation spell and start the process anew with 'Alohomora'. Continue with this process until you can cast the 'Alohomora' spell 100 times in a row without tiring (as this opens doors it cannot be held for extended periods of times but casting it over and over again until you tire works just as well). Add more spells as you master the ones you have done."_

_Hazel read from a book. Harry nodded and immediately cast a 'Lumos' spell which created three balls of soft light. The balls hovered over each of the children._

"_Alright," the third little boy began, "You two have read a lot of the books. Also, our teacher, Ms. Honey, has told you what subjects are learned in the older years. She has even given you books on some of the advanced subjects. Don't you think it's time to find a place for us to go and make a plan for getting out of my 'parents' house?"_

_Hazel regarded her cousin. He was bigger than Harry and Hazel. He was obviously more well-fed, but he was not a large boy. Dirty blonde hair topped his stocky frame. Being average height made him much taller than the two other children, who were much too small for their age._

"_Aidan and I talked about living out here," Hazel began. "We wouldn't have to pay for anything and there is a stream nearby that is perfect for drinking. It feeds into that pool which would be perfect for bathing in. We can gather all of the greens, some veggies, fruits, and berries from the plant life around here. Small animals and things are fairly easy to hunt most of the time, that way we can save our money for when we really need it. We know how to make our own clothes from deer skins and larger rabbit skins. We would only have to think of a place we could build some sort of shelter."_

_The tree above the group began to rustle and almost seemed to move. Harry (Aidan), Hazel (Alex), and their cousin, David, immediately darted out of the hollow they were in. A minute later it became apparent that the tree **had** moved. It was further back than it had been. A beautiful, but strange creature stepped out of the tree. It appeared to be human like but looked distinctly like a miniature version of the tree it had stepped out of. The being was male. He carefully bent and sat in front of the children._

"_Hello, little ones," the tree-man lethargically said. "My name is Stormroot. I have been watching and protecting you while you meet in my glade, young warriors. I can make tree houses for you in this clearing. You may remain in these trees as long as you like little Elves. The forest under my command will always protect you and those you call friends or family."_

"_That sounds good, but," Hazel hesitated and then quietly asked, "what are you?"_

"_Oh, dear, I had forgot that most of the human magic ones have lost knowledge of us," the tree-man muttered. "I am a Druid, a male tree-spirit. Dryads are female tree-spirits. Ziafis are female air-spirits while Zephyrs are male air-spirits. Sirens are female water-spirits, while Shamans are male water-spirits."_

_All three children minutely nodded when they had processed his explanation. Hazel quietly spoke up again, "Um, how can you make a tree house, sir?"_

"_Oh, I can simply direct the trees to grow their branches in specific ways so that a tree house will be formed. The trees can also bend their existing branches a bit for certain things. It will take a while for the tree houses to be finished, but they should be done by your summer break."_

"_Okay, do you know of all the different things we'll need?" Hazel queried._

"_Yes, child," The Druid spirit smiled at her. "I know all of the things you need to live comfortably. I would also suggest you bring a small television and VCR with you. I may not like the inventions over much, but you can use your magic to make them work without the wires and things most people use and they allow you to see different educational things. TV can allow you to explore things like anatomy and such better than books can. Continue with how you have been learning things and try to make copies of every book you can from the town and school libraries. _

"_You are learning very quickly, little warriors, soon you will come into your Elven magic and some true Elves will come for you. I would contact them now, but all the Druid and Dryad trees that used to live near me have either been killed or have moved away. Going too far from my tree can be hazardous and takes a long time. I do not wish to leave you three for so long; therefore it will be easier to wait for your Elven magic to awaken."_

"_Okay," Hazel hesitantly replied, obviously trying to process everything she had learned._

The scene faded out and then coalesced back into the same clearing.

"This is still my point of view, but it is at the end of the school year, when we officially moved into the place," Hazel explained.

_The clearing was radically different from the last image. Branches in the trees were curved and grown so closely together that they made nice floors. Other branches jutted out to make beds, tables, chairs, shelves, and all sorts of other furniture items. _

_Books already covered a majority of the bookshelves on the 'living room' platform. Fluffy mats and beanbag like chairs were included on this platform. Branches jutted out in a circle and cloth was stretched across them to make large disk chairs. _

_A bucket stood in one corner of a platform that looked an awful lot like a half bath with a sink and cabinet. The bucket was covered with a fitted and nicely finished wooden lid. Toothbrushes and toothpaste were in a clear plastic storage box. Towels and washcloths were folded in a large cubicle next to the sink._

_Padding already covered the beds and animal skin blankets covered the mattresses. Branches formed railing around the bed. Cloth stretched from the railings to the bed frame to keep the children from rolling off of the beds at night. A number of different clothing outfits made of animal skins, leaves, wool, cotton, rucksack, and linen were folded in the few cubicles designated for clothes. Only a few sets of shoes were set on the floor under the clothes cubicles. Heavier clothing and blankets were also in one large cubicle._

_A small 19" (about 48 cm) TV sat on top of one shelf with a VCR on the shelf right below it. Three, beanbag like, chairs were grouped on that platform. Another shelf held a variety of videos. A small table was off to one side of the platform. The shelves near it held a large amount of craft items, art items, and different types of paper._

_One platform held an electric piano, a small violin, and a homemade flute. Shelves held books of music. Branches formed a bench in front of the piano and fluffy looking mats were arranged on the floor. _

_The last platform held all sorts of food that did not have to be refrigerated. This platform had a bench like outcropping of branches close enough to the floor that the three children could sit on the floor while eating._

_Each platform was connected to the other by either branch or rope bridges. Ropes hung down from most of the platforms. _

_The branches above the clearing were now thick enough to provide excellent shelter against rain and other elements. However, there were branches closer to the tree house level that worked as thatch like roofs._

_The three children were climbing up the three different trees that made the bedrooms, which were grouped next to each other. Small stubs of branches and almost unnoticeable hollows in the trees allowed the children to quickly climb. Large, homemade knapsacks were on each child's back, each sack filled to almost overflowing. _

"_Well, we're finally out of there for good," David said. "Thank you for helping me."_

"_Why wouldn't we?" Hazel asked, a truly baffled expression gracing her face._

The scene faded out again.

"This next memory is a few years later. It is when we first met the Elves and were taken to the Elven realms. It is also from my point of view," Harry clarified.

_The scene faded into a copse of trees in the forest. The three children were wrestling with each other. Harry and Hazel broke off to wrestle only with each other, while including wandless magic in their fight. Suddenly, the three children froze and whipped their heads in one direction, apparently having heard something._

_Four obviously adult Elves carefully emerged from the trees. One of them was dark skinned. _(Zatiar sucked in a breath for she obviously recognized her older counterpart). _Another was fairly tan while the other two were fair-skinned. The dark skinned one was the only lady. All three had long hair and pointed ears. They moved with an inhuman grace, completely at ease with themselves and their connections with nature. The expressions on their faces were a strange mix of understanding, concern, and wariness. These four Elves knew, more than others, what three children living alone in the woods meant about their previous 'caretakers'._

_The dark skinned lady Elf kneeled down to be closer to the children's level. _

"_Hello children. My name is Zatiar, but you may call me Zata if you wish," the lady Elf gave them a small smile and then turned to gesture to her three companions. "The blonde over there is Master Abutun, the reddish-brown one is Master Ihoum, and the dirty blonde is Abuon."_

"_We are here because the two of you," Zata pointed to Harry and Hazel, "have enough Elven blood in you for that heritage to surface on its own. You have been using some Elven magic in the past couple weeks. It took us a while to find you."_

_Hazel had positioned herself in front of the two little boys, therefore Zata had been addressing her. Hazel looked at her curiously, and guardedly, "Stormroot said some Elves would come when we started using Elven magic, but I didn't think we had. What do you want?"_

"_You didn't know you were because children who are part-Elf begin to use Elven magic unconsciously when they are anywhere from 8-12 years old. It is the instinctual magic that lets animals and dark creatures in the area know that you are an Elf. That sort of change in a child's magic is usually picked up on by the more intelligent creatures and eventually travels to creatures who can tell adult Elves._

"_We want to help you learn about your Elven heritage and to give you a home where the adults are the ones doing the worrying, as it should be. Will you give us that chance?" Zata quietly said, and all four of the adult Elves seemed to be holding their breath._

_The two boys turned to each other and just stared at each other for a few moments. Harry then turned to his sister and tapped her twice on her left shoulder. She tilted her head slightly to the left and regarded all four of the adults. The next second the adults each shifted suddenly and looked at Hazel more curiously. Hazel gave a curt nod._

"_Okay, we'll give you a chance," Hazel gestured for Harry and David to lead. They started walking and Hazel gestured for the adults to follow. She brought up the rear as the little procession strode through the forest to the children's tree-house._

_They quickly entered the clearing where the tree lofts made up their house. The adults were looking curiously around at the different things on the loft and the different trails leading to and from the clearing. They were impressed with the trails because it would be very hard for someone to pick out where the trails were._

_When Stormroot stepped out of his tree in order to say farewell to the children, the Elven adults stared, wide eyed._

"_Don't drop your jaws now, young Masters and Mistress Elf," Stormroot amusedly addressed them. "I am quite sure I can't be the only Druid you have seen in your lives."  
_

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Okay, the author shamelessly begs for people to review. I'm getting lots of hits on this story, please tell me what you think, even if it's just a 'love it' or 'keep going'. Reviews are like precious jewels to a beggar.

Hit the button and review please, you know you want to :)


	8. Interlude:those left behind

I know it's been forever since I updated, and all I can say is I'm sorry. There's been over four thousand hits on this story! Here is an interlude. I am working on chapter 9 and it will be finished in the next week, hopefully the next day or two. I am also going to do some minor editing on the first 7 chapters. There shouldn't be any major changes.

Anyway, here's the interlude. It's from the point of view of the friends that Harry, Hazel, Hermione, and Neville left in the other world.

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"What are you thinking of?" a petite redhead girl queried of the silvery-blonde haired boy. She wrapped her arms around him when he turned from the window to face her.

He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Peering into chocolate brown eyes, he answered, "I was just wondering how they're doing. They never did like prophecies, after all, and now they're off to fulfill another one."

"Yes, but they never could turn someone down if they needed help. If we asked them to, and they were allowed, you know they'd be back here in a flash, even though that world is where they belong."

"Of course," the boy snorted, "all four of them are too noble for their own good."

Chocolate eyes smiled at him from a freckled face. He almost had to look away at the infinitely understanding look in the depths of her fathomless cinnamon eyes.

"I miss them, too," she murmured as she laid her head upon his chest. Her fiery red locks combined with the forest green of his peasant shirt, reminding him of Christmas. He shoved away the thoughts that he wouldn't have four of his friends with him at Christmas anymore. Tightening his arms around the girl, he propped his chin on the top of her head and sighed.

The pair stayed that way for a long time, drawing comfort from each other, before they were interrupted.

"Oy, fire-breath, am I gonna have to give you a talk about how to treat my baby sis," a tall, lanky red-haired teen entered the room, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Can it, brother dear," the girl warned, "or I'll bat-bogey you."

Both boys shuddered at the thought of one of the girl's infamous bat-bogey hexes being turned on them. She might be petite, but she was _powerful_.

"Kay, okay, I surrender," the new boy stated. "However, I thought you two would like to know that Remus, Sirius, and Zata are back."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth the blonde boy and red-haired girl were running out the door. The other teen shook his head and followed after the two.

----------------------------------------

A tawny haired man stood in the chamber of the Founders, near the heart of Hogwarts.

"Careful, let's set it down on three," he directed his companion, a dark-haired man with grey eyes and tanned skin.

"One." They hefted the large object.

"Two." They held the object just above a soft carpet.

"Three" the object settled with a _'thud'_ just as two teens ran into the room. A third teen sedately ambled in after them, giving the adults a pleased grin.

"Hey there, little dragon," the tawny man greeted the blonde youth.

"I'm not so little anymore, old wolf," the teen retorted.

"Watch who you're calling old, rascal, I can still wipe the floors with you."

"C'mon, let's call them already!" the girl impatiently cut in. "I, for one, want to see how things are going over there."

"Hold on, sweethearts," a dark-skinned woman with straight, dark-brown hair implored. "We can only use the mirror to contact them a handful of times. I'm as eager to contact them as everyone else, but we need to make sure we can contact them when we know they'll want us to."

"Don't you think they'll want us to now?" the blonde nearly whined.

"They might want to hear from us now, but there will be times they will definitely want to hear from us," the grey eyed man said.

"Snuffles," the blond boy whined, "when will that be?"

"I don't know, maybe the kids' first birthday," 'Snuffles' replied sarcastically, "or when they get their Hogwarts' letters. There is also when we get the orphanage completely up and running."

"We can only contact them a total of five times with the mirror," a blond haired lady, who looked remarkably like the boy, interrupted. "The kids' first birthday is one, the day they get their Hogwarts' letters is two, the day we can inform them that the orphanage is up and running is three, that leaves two more. The question is if we want to do that immediately or if we want to try and space those out?"

"The kids' first birthday is in three months, which gives Harry and Hazel plenty of time to talk with and train people in their new world. It also gives us plenty of time to go through the Old Buzzer's things and see if we can inform Har, Haze, Nev, and Mina of anything new that might help them," the tawny haired man began to explain. "Also, it will take us about a year to get the orphanage fully up and running, complete with a building to stay in, instead of using Hogwarts'. Therefore, we can call them again in a year. That leaves about nine and a half years between the orphanage and the kids' letters. We could call them once between that time and then again when the kids' finish Hogwarts, or we could wait and call them twice after the kids' letters."

"I vote for calling them on the kids' sixth birthday. Then we can call them when the kids' finish Hogwarts and give a long update. Any other information that they might want to know can be taken there by one of the Elven Pondhoppers," a man with long black hair and onyx eyes stated with a smooth voice. He strode over to where the others were seated and situated himself across from 'Snuffles' and the dark-skinned lady. The tawny-haired man and blond woman were sitting on a loveseat together while all of the teens were in various states of repose on the plush carpeted floor.

"I agree with Nightclaw," a lady with dirty blond hair, clear blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin added as she sat next to the black-eyed man. He wrapped an arm around her as she leaned into him.

The blue-eyed lady began speaking again, "Harry, Hazel, Neville, and Hermione, as much as we don't want to let them go, need to be able to move on. They will want to know about the kids, but talking to them too much will just remind them _and you_ that they can't be in this world anymore. Give them the information about the children, give them the information about projects that they started and would like to see carried out, and let them tell you about the new world and the changes they're making, but keep it brief. The more we draw out the calls, the more it will cause us _and them_ pain and sorrow. As much as we will miss them and want them to be a part of our lives, they can not be with us any longer, nor can we be with them, and we have to accept that."

"We understand that, it's just annoying for them not to be here," a chocolate haired young man said. He was a few years older than the first three teens. "Harry, Hazel, Neville, and Hermione have always wanted children. That they have children and can't raise them has to hurt. We all remember what they said to us before they left. We intend to honour their wishes and raise their children to the best of our ability. They have entrusted us with their children, so we will do everything we can to support the children during their lives. We will love them because their parents can not be here to do so."

The rest of the teens nodded, agreeing. All of them knew they would do their best to honour their friends' wishes.

_Flashback_

"_Be known to these, my children, and they shall be known to you," Hazel spoke to the handsome chocolate haired young man. He made a move to interrupt her before realizing she was using ritual speak._

"_Now and forevermore he shall be called Caspian Erastus Manu Areli Slytherin. The King who is the beloved, wise, lion of God," she proclaimed, lifting up a baby boy, not two months old. His blood red hair, so like her own, stood up in messy spikes; and his emerald green eyes held such innocence. Neville took a cup of water and oil and poured some on the babe's head. Then Hazel placed the baby in the chocolate haired young man's hands._

"_I charge you, Cedric Marcus Diggory, known as Glider, and you, Daphne Elaine Greengrass, known as Talon," Hazel began, "to raise him to be a great ruler. He will have the responsibility of the welfare of the Wizard people upon his shoulders. Teach him to handle that responsibility with strength and calm. Support him in his duty. Remind him that he needs to live life as much as his people. Most importantly of all, love him. How say you?"_

"_I, Cedric Marcus Diggory, known as Glider," the chocolate haired young man began._

"_And I, Daphne Elaine Greengrass, known as Talon," a black haired pale young lady added. Then they spoke together, "will raise Caspian Erastus Manu Areli Slytherin as my own. We will teach him to handle his responsibility in the Wizarding World with strength and calm. We will help him to never forget to live his own life in the midst of his responsibility. We will support him in any way that we can. Most importantly, we will teach him of the parents who loved him enough to give their lives so he could live. We will teach him how to have that love himself. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be"_

"_So mote it be," Neville and Hazel recited._

_Neville then held up a dark sandy haired baby boy with bluish-brown eyes._

"_Now and forevermore he shall be called Elric Erasmus Jabin Kishor Hufflepuff. The Noble Ruler who is a beloved perceptive colt," Neville began. Hazel anointed the babe this time and the babe was handed to Daphne. Once the babe was in Daphne's arms, Neville continued, "I charge you, Cedric Marcus Diggory, known as Glider, and you, Daphne Elaine Greengrass, known as Talon, to raise him as your own. Teach him to be the advisor and confidant his brother will need. Teach him to watch always and never assume. Teach him to listen more than talk. Teach him to appreciate the beauty in everything. Teach him to love. How say you?"_

"_I, Cedric Marcus Diggory, known as Glider."_

"_And I, Daphne Elaine Greengrass, known as Talon." _

_Speaking together:_

"_Will take Elric Erasmus Jabin Kishor Hufflepuff and raise him as my own. We will teach him to be a wise advisor; and to know what secrets to tell and what to keep. We will teach him always to watch everything and everyone. We will teach him to never assume and how to quietly inquire information. We will teach him how to listen and when to talk. We will teach him to always find beauty wheree'er he goes. Most importantly, we will teach him of the parents who loved him enough to give their lives that he might live. We will teach him to love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Neville and Hazel intoned._

_Hazel held up a baby girl with dark chocolate hair and green-brown eyes and said, "Now and forevermore she will be known as Candace Priya Attarah Elpis de Loxley. The Queen who is the beloved crown of hope."_

_She handed the child to a mediterranean looking young man and continued, "I charge you, Nathan Zacchaeus Bradley, known as Shadow, and you, Susan Andrea Bones, known as Melody, to love her as your own. Teach her to be always hopeful. Teach her to be a leader. Teach her to question and to love learning. Teach her to help others love to learn. Teach her to give hope. Teach her to love. How say you?"_

"_I, Nathan Zacchaeus Bradley, known as Shadow,"_

"_And I, Susan Andrea Bones, known as Melody,"_

_Together: "will take Candace Priya Attarah Elpis de Loxley and raise her as my own. We will teach her to always hope and share that hope. We will teach her to lead, to question, and to learn. We will teach her to help others learn. Most importantly we will teach her of the parents who loved her enough to give their lives that she might live. We will teach her to love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Neville and Hazel chanted._

_Neville took and held the little girl with auburn red curls and deep brown eyes and said, "Now and forevermore she shall be known as Elfreda Ahuva Kallisto Malati Pendragon—the Strong Elf who is a beloved, most beautiful jasmine."_

_Hazel poured the last of the oil and water, from the phial she and Neville had been using, onto the girl's head. Once done, Neville handed the girl to Susan and continued, "I charge you, Nathan Zacchaeus Bradley, known as Shadow, and you, Susan Andrea Bones, known as Melody, to raise her as your own. Teach her to delight in all art. Teach her to be strong in her convictions. Teach her to grow and how to make things grow. Teach her when to fight and when to retreat. Teach her love. How say you?"_

"_I, Nathan Zacchaeus Bradley, known as Shadow,"_

"_And I, Susan Andrea Bones, known as Melody,"_

_Together:"will take Elfreda Ahuva Kallisto Malati Pendragon and raise her as my own. We will teach her to delight in art in all its forms. We will teach her to be strong in her beliefs. We will teach her to grow and to make things grow. We will teach her when to fight and when to retreat. Most importantly, we will teach her of the parents who loved her enough to give their lives that she might live. We will teach her to love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Neville and Hazel caroled._

_Harry and Hermione stepped forward, pushing two baskets with four babies. They stopped the basket just before a little stand and Hermione placed the turquoise and emerald phial on the stand._

_Harry stepped forward and picked up a messy black-haired baby boy with greenish-blue eyes like his (Harry's) sister's. He held the little one up and said, "Now and forevermore he shall be known as Jasper David Alexius Sachin Ambrosius—the Treasurer who is the beloved defender of purity."_

_Once Hermione anointed the baby with the oil and water in the phial Harry handed the baby to Draco._

"_I charge you, Draco Kaden Malfoy, known as Dragon, and you, Ginevra Molly Weasley, known as Firefoot," Harry began, "to take him and raise him as your own. Teach him to be a warrior for what is right. Teach him to defend the children placed in his care. Teach him to uphold that which is pure and innocent. Teach him to live life fully and well. Teach him to love. How say you?"_

"_I, Draco Kaden Malfoy, known as Dragon," the silvery blond boy began._

"_I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, known as Firefoot," the fiery red-head added._

_Together they finished, "will take Jasper David Alexius Sachin Ambrosius and raise him as my own. We will teach him to fight for what is right. We will teach him to defend those who can not defend themselves. We will teach him to respect all that is pure and innocent. We will teach him to live life fully and well. Most importantly, we will teach him of the parents who loved him enough to give their lives that he might live. We will teach him love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Harry and Hermione completed._

_Hermione took a chocolate haired baby boy with one green and one brown eye and held him. She gazed at the little boy as she spoke, "Now and Forevermore he shall be called Alden Philetus Nirav Asa Le Faye—the Friend who is the beloved calm healer."_

_Harry anointed the infant and Hermione handed him to Ginny._

"_I charge you, Draco Kaden Malfoy, known as Dragon," Hermione intoned, "and you, Ginevra Molly Weasley, known as Firefoot, to take him and raise him as your own. Teach him to make whatever he can with his own hands. Teach him when to ask for help and when to give it. Teach him to be curious, but not overly so. Teach him to be courteous and kind. Teach him to give of himself. Teach him to love. How say you?"_

"_I, Draco Kaden Malfoy, known as Dragon,"_

"_And I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, known as Firefoot,"_

_Together:"will take Alden Philetus Nirav Asa Le Faye and raise him as my own. We will teach him to create and build. We will teach him when to ask for help and when to give it. We will teach him to hold a perfect curiosity. We will teach to be courteous and kind. We will teach him to give of himself. Most importantly, we will teach him of the parents who loved him enough that they gave their own lives to see that he might live. We will teach him love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Harry and Hermione responded._

_Harry next held up a dark haired baby girl with messy curls and green eyes. He recited, "Now and Forevermore she shall be known as Jocasa Amy Shamira Ila Ravenclaw—the Playful One who is a beloved guardian of the earth."_

_Hermione anointed the girl and handed the babe to Ron. Harry continued, "I charge you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, known as Nightpaw, and you, Luna Aislin Lovegood, known as Silvertail, to take her and raise her as your own. Teach her to laugh. Teach her of the heart's magic. Teach her to guard all things precious and good. Teach her to care for the earth that gives her life. Teach her to see the connections between all things. Teach her to love. How say you?"_

"_I, Ronald Bilius Weasley, known as Nightpaw," the gangly red-head started._

"_And I, Luna Aislin Lovegood, known as Silvertail," the dreamy blond added._

_Together: "will take Jocasa Amy Shamira Ila Ravenclaw and raise her as my own. We will teach her to laugh and to care for the earth that gives her life. We will teach her of the heart's magic. We will teach her to guard all that is precious and good; and to seek the connections between all things. Most importantly, we will teach her of the parents who loved her enough to give their lives that she might live. We will teach her love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Harry and Hermione finished._

_Hermione took the last child--a baby girl with black hair and golden highlights. Her chocolate brown eyes gazed up at her mother as her mother said, "Now and Forevermore she shall be known as Amabel Cara Dipti Ariel Gryffindor—the Lovable One who is the beloved, light, lion of God."_

_Harry anointed the babe and Hermione handed her to Luna._

"_I charge you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, known as Nightpaw, and you, Luna Aislin Lovegood, known as Silvertail, to take her and raise her as your own. Teach her to fight valiantly, but to never search out a fight. Teach her to know when to protect another and when she needs protection. Teach her to respect all people. Teach her to delight in life. Teach her to love. How say you?"_

"_I, Ronald Bilius Weasley, known as Nightpaw,"_

"_And I, Luna Aislin Lovegood, known as Silvertail,"_

_Together: "will take Amabel Cara Dipti Ariel Gryffindor and raise her as my own. We will teach her to fight bravely, but never to search out a fight. We will teach her to know when to protect and when she needs to be protected. We will teach her to respect all people and to delight in life. Most importantly, we will teach her of the parents who loved her enough to give their lives that she might live. We will teach her love. So we speak. So we intend. So mote it be."_

"_So mote it be," Harry and Hermione answered._

_Hazel stepped forth and said, "They are yours now. Do not teach them of the other world we will go to. Instead, teach them of how we gave our lives fighting for liberation from the dark. Teach them of how our deaths began the process of restoration. Teach them of the Olde Ways. Teach them of their parts in returning the Wizard World to the Olde Ways. Teach them the family lore and duties to be passed on to each generation henceforth."_

"_We will do so," Cedric replied._

_End Flashback_

"We all know the story of their deaths that we will tell the children," Cedric interrupted. "Since we can not tell the children that their parents are alive, we can not allow the children to see the mirror. We can put the children in a room near the mirror and use a viewing spell to allow Har, Haze, Mina, and Nev to see them. All of the suggestions for when to contact our friends sound good to me."

"Alright," Dragon conceded, "we'll contact them first on the kids' first birthday. Then we'll wait and see. However, if we're going to be able to tell them that some of the plans they set in motion are working out, then we need to get to work."

"Agreed," Narcissa said.

--------------------------------------------


End file.
